A Seriously Messed Up Series
by Khait Khepri
Summary: She was just an average girl who didn't even like anime or 'manga'. Now she's in one of the craziest series ever. She must learn a new language, how to fight & STILL find a way to get home. Rated same as SY for L,V,Crude Humor. Eventual SanzoOC
1. Intro & Prologue: Just a Book

**A Friendly Introduction:**

Okay, I know there are going to be some complaints in the direction of "this isn't a chapter," but first let me explain some things.

If you enjoy Saiyuki as much as I do, then you get annoyed with all the rather suck-y fan-fictions on I truly understand your pain. However, for those of you that like the anime, then I'm going to disappoint you. I'm going to be following the manga series of events. They're sooo much better.

Now that's not to say that I'm going to make it any less funny.

Also, my character I'm going to be inserting is more or less going to_ have_ to receive powers. She'll die if she doesn't, after all. She will receive some sort of weapon. At the moment, I'm not quite sure what it will be, but rest assured. She will survive the youkai. Whether or not she survives Sanzo is a _completely_ different story.

And now I'm grinning sadistically for those of you who cannot see past the computer screen to your dear author.

Lastly, every chapter, save for the prologue, is the name of a book. Some have to do with the story of the book I had titled the chapter after… Others have to do with the similarities to the situation. You'll understand if you read the manga and the books I reference.

Enjoy.

After all… I did put up the prologue to set the mood…

TTFN.

_—Khait Khepri—_

**LANGUAGE KEY:**

"Hello." Language Understood

"**Hello."** Language Not Understood

"Om." Chant

"_Hello."_ Disembodied Voice, as in completely different place, not just around the corner (or emphasis

A combination of these bits and pieces can happen (like in chapter 2 where Rikudo is chanting in another language). Don't get mad at me for not doing the whole tons of Japanese language thing… I don't know all that much.

Again… Ta.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Saiyuki isn't owned by me. While it pains me to say this, it is true. So don't sue me, please?

* * *

**_Prologue: Just A Book_**

It was raining. Now, upon hearing this, one would assume that it was a dark and stormy night. Not so. It was actually a summer storm during the day…

…On a Saturday.

Roxanna wasn't the least bit happy that she was virtually stuck at home. Her parents wouldn't let her borrow their cars. Tim was not in a giving mood either. And HER car was in the shop because some bozo decided playing bumper cars in a parking lot would be a fun thing to do. And she was one of the ones the bastard hit. That drunken asshole…

So now the half Latino, half White girl was chatting it up with her best friend. His name was Jacob and the two had been friends since they were in diapers. They were talking about a bunch of inane stuff. Nothing really important to say anyway…

That's when Tim came through the living room she was currently sitting in and turned on the television before popping a DVD in the player. Roxanna didn't pay any attention to him or the set until the TV started blaring a very up-beat song with an almost insane tempo. But that was only the beginning. With her attention now divided between the phone and the television, she could hear the opening theme of some anime Tim loved. The words to the theme were fast-paced and completely Japanese save for one phrase and that was "let it go".

Then the theme was over and the show came on.

At first there was just talking and images of scenery. Then, a blonde guy and a brunette with a crown appeared. Roxanna wasn't sure what was being said since she was a.) trying to listen to Jacob and b.) the words were in Japanese.

Tim knew Japanese. He loved his cartoons so much that he learned Japanese. Her older brother chuckled softly at the antics of the pair but then muttered something about the "manga" being better.

Fed up with the constant noise, Roxanna left the room and headed back to her own room. Unfortunately, her conversation with Jacob was cut short when Jacob had to go with his parents to some family reunion.

It hadn't been canceled because of the storm for they normally had it indoors to begin with.

Roxanna ran a hand through her blond highlighted brown locks with a sigh. There was absolutely nothing to do in this stupid house! This day would be fucking complete if the lights went out!

As if on cue, the lights did just that.

"Fuck you, too!" the infuriated half-Latino said angrily to the ceiling before flopping down on her bed.

"Power's out, Tim said at her open bedroom door.

Roxanna glared at him balefully.

"No. The breakers decided to form a union and quit working until they got better wages," she said dryly, sarcasm evident in her tone.

Tim just rolled his eyes, used to the sarcasm. "What do you want to do?" he asked her. It was pretty obvious what he was going to do. In his hands were a small stack of books and a battery-operated reading light.

Roxanna eyed the four volumes in his hand and asked, "I wanna know why you like that series so much."

Tim looked at his Saiyuki manga and shrugged. "There's no simple answer, Anna. It would take half an hour to explain why thoroughly."

"And the condensed version?"

"Well, read volume one and find out for yourself," Tim said as he offered her the first volume.

Roxanna had nothing better to do. She had already read all her books and there was nothing else to do BUT read at the moment.

So she grabbed her own little book light and took the offered book. Tim gave her instruction on how to read the weird little book and sat down in her mushroom chair (bright orange with black trim, by the way) to read another volume.

Roxanna first examined every single picture in the beginning in detail. She had to admit they were all good looking men. The blonde on the front cover looked very serious. She wondered why he wore a dress, though. The three on the back looked like trouble.

Then she began to read the story. The art was a little weird, but very detailed. It – the story – was seriously confusing. Roxanna found herself almost continuously asking questions of Tim. Tim was obliging enough to answer some of the questions, but he insisted that if he did do something like answer exactly who was causing the disturbance, he would ruin the story. So he said a lot of "you'll find out".

An hour later, the lights were back on and Tim lad left the room.

But she was still reading that damnable little book. It was incredible, the variations in the four protagonists' (or is that possibly 'antagonists'?) personalities and how they all meshed together… This story was as well written as some of the books she had read.

Finally she finished it but had more questions than answers about what would happen next.

So she went and requested the second volume of Saiyuki from her brother, whom looked very much amused. He did oblige her, though.

Roxanna went into her room again and settled down in her chair. She began to read, very interested in what happened next. She had gotten to the point where Hakkai was about to explain Gojyo's peculiar behavior when…

_THUNK._

Roxanna blinked at her now unoccupied hands. The book, much to her confusion, had slid straight out of her hands. She had been holding it quite firmly.

The Latino-Caucasian girl reached down to pick up the book. Her hand, an inch away from the prize, froze as she felt the thrill of shock go down her spine. Roxanna could see red on her hands. Orange, too… There was also a distinctive brownish stripe darker than her normal light brown skin.

What was really shocking was that when she looked at her _other_ hand, it was covered in a bright orange tint with black stripes.

Her left hand had been sitting on the armrest of her chair… you know, the bright orange mushroom chair with black edging.

She brought her hands before her face and could see light and dim shapes through them.

And the shapes were steadily getting clearer and more defined.

Roxanna was beginning to hyperventilate. This was not normal. Not normal at all. She wanted to call to her brother but couldn't even stop freaking out long enough to form an even incoherent cry.

She felt the chair give way beneath her, but once she had landed on the floor, the chair, she discovered, was just fine. She, however, was sitting in the middle of it like it wasn't even there. The fabric was going through her chest right under her breasts. The metal framework was also going through her at angles.

Roxanna crawled out of the chair, thankful that the floor was still solid to her… that and the simple fact that her clothing wasn't falling off of her.

That little detail was very much appreciated.

But that didn't change the fact that she was fading away…

She blinked. For a moment she thought she saw forest. That was weird (in fact it was just as bizarre as what was happening to her). There weren't any forests nearby. This was the city after all.

Roxanna barely got any other thought through her head when the entire world faded to black.

* * *

That's it for now. Come back in a bit to get the second chapter. 

And just so you know, this isn't a re-write of Saiyuki Self-Insert though I did write on that one under a different screen name. But it does have a lot of the same ideas.


	2. I: Inkheart

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything other than my own character(s) and subsequent weaving of said character(s) into the plotline. Please do not sue me as I have to pay a car note and have no money to spare for legalities such as that. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter I: Inkheart**

Roxanna blearily opened her eyes to the sight of storm clouds and trees looming over her ominously. Groaning, she sat up.

"Where am I?" she mumbled to herself, looking around. Slowly she stood and dusted herself off. There was a slight chill in the air and she was glad she had decided to wear jeans and her sweatshirt hoodie. Under her hoodie was a tank. The tank was plain white with baby blue word "Angel" across the chest. The hoodie was robin egg blue with the words "The Screaming Blue Jays" emblazoned across her chest in chocolate brown. Her blue jeans were so faded they bordered white. And her sneakers, bought just the day before, were also brown with sky blue highlights.

All in all, it was a good thing she felt lazy that morning and didn't go gaga on the pretty stuff…

But that didn't solve her current predicament.

Where the hell was she?

She knew one thing, at least. She wasn't going to find out here. So, Roxanna chose a random direction and began walking.

Bored of the 'silence' of the forest around her, she began to sing. At first the Latino-Caucasian sang as much as she could of various songs she liked. Soon, she got tired of those and began to sing classic ditties like "Pop Goes the Weasel" song and the butchered Barney song of "I Hate You."

But the lack of another voice made her songs seem dull and quickly un-amusing. So once more, Roxanna fell silent.

And that's when she heard a peculiar rumble. The rumble wasn't that of thunder but that of an… engine?

She began to scan the area for the source of the sound. Roxanna finally located it and the jeep and its passengers were about 20 yards away.

"Hey!" she shouted, waving her arms as she jumped up and down slightly. "Heeey!"

The jeep began to slow and turn towards her. There were four people riding in it; four men to be absolutely precise. They pulled to a stop a tiny distance away.

She walked closer, keeping some distance between them. "Do you know where the nearest town is?" she asked breathlessly. The four men exchanged looks of confusion and a couple muttered something.

"**Pardon me, miss,"** the one with a monocle said, his green eyes deep and worried. **"What did you say?"**

"Huh?" Roxanna uttered. She had her own look of confusion.

"**A foreigner,"** muttered the blonde man. He was dressed oddly. She wasn't quite sure to call the outfit a dress or a robe.

"**A cute one at that,"** the redhead said, eyeing her appreciatively. **"Ain't she a looker?"**

"**Shaddup, ya looser, lecher kappa!"** the apparent youngest said in disgust.

"**Shut it yourself, midget monkey!"**

"**M'not a midget monkey, ya stinkin' jerkwad!"**

The two in the back continued their "lively discussion" until the blonde man pulled out a fan from nowhere and smacked both of them upside the head.

"**Shut up both of you or else I'll kill you!"**

Roxanna was backing away slowly at this point. The green-eyed man called an end to the fight by simply saying that they shouldn't frighten the 'foreigner' so badly.

Naturally, Roxanna didn't understand this.

But the dispute had been settled… for the moment at least.

The green-eyed man stepped out of the vehicle with his hands up in a consolatory gesture. **"Now, now. I promise we won't hurt you."**

"S-stay away," stuttered out Roxanna. The four heard the fear in her voice and saw the fear on her face, and the green-eyed man looked worried.

He laid a hand to his chest and said, **"Cho Hakkai."** He then pointed at the surly blonde. **"Genjyo Sanzo."** He pointed at the boy with the gold eyes. **"Son Goku."** He pointed at the redhead. **"Sha Gojyo."** He then took his hand and put it in a different gesture. The palm of his had was open to the sky and his fingers were together… as if he were asking for something. **"You?"**

Roxanna looked at him uncomprehendingly. It was to Hakkai's relief that she wasn't backing off anymore. Again he put his hand to his chest and said, **"Hakkai."** He made the open-handed gesture to Roxanna again.

It suddenly dawned on the teenager what exactly he was trying to do. "Roxanna," she said, laying her own hand upon her chest.

"**Roana?"** the one called 'Son Goku' said, confused.

Roxanna heard him and shook her head 'no' and repeated herself slowly. "Rox-an-na."

Goku smiled brightly. **"Ana-chan!"** he chirped even as the rest of the group sweatdropped.

Roxanna slapped her forehead, Hakkai chuckled, Gojyo popped Goku upside the head, and Sanzo just scowled.

"**Rox-anna-dono," **Hakkai said gently with a kind smile.

"Hakkai," Roxanna said with a nod. "Mind giving me a ride? I'm lost."

At the confused looks, she sighed. Massaging the bridge of her nose, she thought for a moment. A second after she opened her eyes, she caught sight of a bare patch of dirt and had a bright idea.

Roxanna found a stick and sketched a simple compass rose. Since she didn't know where she was, she couldn't rightly draw a map, after all. After sketching in the cardinal directions of North, South, East, and West, she added in Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Then she drew in a gigantic question mark right next to the rose.

Both Gojyo and Goku had exited the car to see what she was doing. Hakkai also hovered near to see her 'artwork'.

"**She's lost,"** Hakkai said, understanding the symbols. After all, he knew maps best.

"**And that concerns us how?"** Sanzo asked blandly.

"**We're some way from the next town, Sanzo,"** Hakkai admonished.

Sanzo grunted.

"**What does this mean?"** Goku said, pointing to some new symbols on the ground Roxanna had sketched out. 'S.O.S.'

Hakkai examined the ground. **"It means she needs help,"** he informed Goku. **"Ships often use it to call for help because it is easier to tap out in Morse code."**

"**Oh…"**

"**You have no clue what he just said, do you?"** Gojyo said with a cocky grin.

"**Like you did?!"** shouted back Goku, a look of indignation on his face.

"**So should we help her out?"** Hakkai asked of Sanzo. The look on his face was – on the surface – pleasant. However, his grins spoke volumes about what he felt they should do. Behind him, Gojyo's and Goku's argument had suddenly been cut off by twin knee-jerk reactions of 'ow'.

Sanzo and Hakkai both had amused expressions on their faces when they realized what had happened.

Roxanna had a peeved expression on her face and the two arguers were looking at her in shock. The Latino-Caucasian looked at Hakkai and then at Sanzo before raising her eyebrow as if to say 'what?' Sanzo, as it should be noted, smirked.

It came to pass that Roxanna was indeed allowed to accompany them on to the nearest town. Unbeknownst to the girl, it was more for her safety from the youkai.

However, said girl was racking her brains, trying to figure out exactly where she had even marginally recognized these four. Even their mode of transportation was familiar for some reason. Not to mention the constant bickering, the fan, that Hakkai's smile, Sanzo's eyes, Goku's crown-thingy, and Gojyo's hair-do… Though, she admitted privately, it was more of a 'hair-don't'. She bet he looked great with short hair. The long hair stated either 'hippie' or 'rebel'. Short hair would look downright devilishly good. Maybe she would even offer to cut it for him, once they got past the language barrier.

Sighing, she settled back on the rear bench. Goku sat between her and Gojyo. Gojyo was behind Sanzo on the left side of t he car. She sat on the driver's side, which was on the right. She had never seen a car like this. She had heard about them, but had never seen one.

Roxanna made analyses of those in the jeep with her… just to pass the time…

Of all of them, Goku was the most social. His eyes were bright and (not to mention) gold. A very inquisitive individual… He was continually trying to find some way of communicating with her.

Gojyo seemed to be the second most sociable. Roxanna believed that he had ulterior motives for being friendly. After all he HAD eyed her lewdly when he had first seen her.

Hakkai was third. His polite gestures and cheerful voice seemed to be more like formulas than anything else.

Last was Sanzo. Everyone deferred to him almost unconsciously. He DID have a leader-ish feel about him, but he was the reluctant leader. His short temper and surly mood showed, to her at least, that he never wanted this leader gig but was forced to do it anyway.

The four of them were chatting, sorta, when one of them made a comment and two others made sounds of agreement with him. Hakkai spoke up in a sort of admonishing tone.

Goku fell silent and made soft sniffing noises.

"…**What's wrong, Goku? Not food again,"** Hakkai said.

"**Mm. No, not that,"** Goku murmured in response. **"It's just… I smell somethin' weird."** He sniffed the air again.

Roxanna wasn't really paying attention to the conversation because she couldn't understand one iota of it.

"**Come to think of it…"** Sanzo muttered.

A gasp from Hakkai garnered everybody's attention. **"Wait, what's that? Look over there!"**

Roxanna didn't need a translation to know what was generally being said at that point.

"…**Shit. What the hell is all this?"** swore Gojyo in a stunned tone.

"Oh, my god…" murmured Roxanna, her eyes wide as she covered her mouth in shock.

The sight before their eyes was terrible at best. There were corpses, about seven or so, lying haphazardly on the forest floor against some trees. All of them had ears swept up into points and a long nail on each finger.

But the most bizarre, if not the most frightening, thing was that they all bore expressions of absolute agony and each and every one of them were covered in these strange bits of paper with weird symbols on them. Roxanna couldn't tell what the script was, but it looked like Chinese.

A sense of horror awoke in her heart. What in the hell was this place? Where was she?

Before she could get too much further into these thoughts, Hakkai was driving away, trying to beat the rain they could all smell in the air.

Roxanna slumped back in her seat, shock still on her features. Both Gojyo and Goku watched her with a mixture curiosity and worry.

After all, with the current predicament with the youkai… they didn't expect to see tears running down the face of the strange girl that was obviously human.

"**D'ya think she's okay?"** asked Goku. Sanzo cast a glance over his shoulder at the still very shell-shocked girl.

"**Who cares?"** he grunted. **"She'll get over it."**

* * *

Inkheart is a novel by Cornelia Funke. The quick synopsis is about a girl and her father who can read people and things out of books… only to have them replaced by something of their world.

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 2: Chapter 10: Rain (_Partial_)


	3. II: Angels & Demons

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own any of Saiyuki. If I did, they would be real people for me to do whatever I wish to. As it is, I can only lay claim to Roxanna and her quirks. All the rest belong to Minekura-sama.

* * *

**Chapter II: Angels and Demons**

"**Just as we thought,"** Hakkai said, eyeing the rain out the window. **"The rain was a step ahead of us."** The little dragon that Hakkai had introduced as Hakuryuu gave an almighty sneeze.

Roxanna was surprised that their mode of transportation was actually a dragon the length of her arm. She had immediately taken to Jiipu and it appeared that the little dragon liked her too, if being in her arms at the moment was any indication.

A crack of lightning lit the sky closely followed by a rolling boom of thunder.

"Big bada-boom," muttered Roxanna from her place next to the window, having not flinched at the huge noise, as Goku cried out, **"Hey! Lightning! Lightning! Cool!"**

"**That one's close,"** murmured Gojyo.

"**Come here, Goku,"** Hakkai called to the golden-eyed teen by the window next to Roxanna. Goku complied to his request and was soon being dried off like a child under Hakkai's rather motherly-like hands.

"**Nnngh," **Goku grunted under Hakkai's ministrations.

Roxanna remained quiet. She, after all, didn't understand what they were saying. Her attention was diverted from the window when she heard a knock on the door.

"**I brought you some tea,"** the lady said upon entering the room.

"**Oh. Thank you,"** Hakkai said in reply.

"**It's too bad the rain caught you,"** the lady continued, walking over to the table to set down the tray of tea. As she set it down, she continued, **"And I'd guess that it'll be sticking around for a while."**

"**Blah. That bites,"** complained Gojyo. Roxanna diverted her attention back to the window. The lady noticed.

"**Your friend,"** she began. **"She hasn't said a word all evening. Is she okay?"**

"**She's fine,"** Hakkai assured her. **"She's from a long way away and can't speak our language."**

"**Oh, my."**

"**Hey. Do you know anything about the youkai corpses nearby?"** Sanzo demanded of the woman.

"**Oh,"** the woman responded. **"That sounds like the work of Rikudo-sama?"**

"**Rikudo?"** asked Hakkai.

"**Who's that?"** asked Goku.

"**You've probably never heard of him since you come from the East. He's a priest around here they've been calling 'savior'. He's supposedly roaming the countryside, exterminating youkai, but few people have actually seen him. They say he's a great man with charms all over his body and that the spells he casts can destroy any youkai."**

Hakkai murmured something to the effect of the youkai they had seen had been covered in charms. Sanzo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His thoughts were interrupted by Gojyo making a pass at the woman.

Sanzo stood, bringing his 'magical fan' out of 'fan space' and popped it in his hand threateningly. **"Oy. Sexual Harrassment Kappa."** An instant later…

"**Ow! Hey, my conquests are none of your business! And where do you keep that fan?"**

"**Didn't I tell you after that Kougaiji incident that you're not to go off on your own?"**

Neither heard Hakkai say that the tea was getting cold. Nor did they notice him offer a cup to Roxanna, whom accepted it and gave the green-tinted liquid inside a suspicious look.

"**Yeah! Kougaiji! I can't wait 'til he comes back!"** Goku said excitedly.

"**Are you two friends?"** Gojyo asked of him, eyeing the enthusiastic teen.

"**Anyway, I guess we're staying here until the rain lets up,"** Hakkai said conversationally, quickly heading off any arguments. **"Jiipu doesn't have a top."**

"**Fine,"** grunted Sanzo. **"It's not like we have a choice."**

"**What about Rox-anna-dono?"** asked Hakkai, attracting Roxanna's attention. **"She doesn't understand a word of our language and it really is our responsibility to look after her."**

"**She's a liability. Keeping her around puts US in more danger,"** Sanzo said bluntly, not even looking at the green-eyed man as he pulled out a cigarette.

"**Perhaps. But in truth, we have her best interests at heart. The people of this town know nothing of her."**

"**Are WE any different?"**

"**I can tell ya somethin' 'bout her!"** Goku said happily, waving his hand in the air as if calling for attention in class.

"**Oh?"** Hakkai said, surprised.

"**Yeah! She had a piece of paper an' she drew an eye and then she drew a sun and then she pointed at my eyes. She thinks my eyes are pretty!"** Goku said happily, his golden eyes bright.

Hakkai chuckled at this even as Sanzo massaged the bridge of his nose and Gojyo sweatdropped. Roxanna only knew they were talking about her. She just didn't know what they were talking about.

Roxanna had had to change out of her damp clothing and use borrowed clothing from the smallest member, Goku. She was actually just an inch taller than him.

Eventually, the group all retired and the night settled in.

However, Roxanna wouldn't be permitted to a full night's rest.

"**EEEEEEK!"** a shrill scream came.

She awoke suddenly to see the woman from before babbling hysterically about something. The others were already moving, so she jerked on her clothes and ran after them.

Roxanna caught up to them and the kitchen door stood open. Inside was something that made her gut roll violently. It was one of those pointed-eared people eating a person.

"**Dammit…"** swore Gojyo as he shot forward. **"Don't eat your shit in the goddamn kitchen!"** He kneed the bastard square in the gut.

Hakkai cried out and Gojyo spun to see another youkai attacking. He didn't have a chance to defend himself for Goku rushed forward.

"**ORAAGH!"** he roared as he slammed his fist into the attacker. The guy went down for the count.

"**You woke up pretty fast, Goku,"** commented Gojyo.

"**I can when I want to. If these guys are gonna mess with the kitc—"**

He was interrupted by a bunch of slips of paper flying out of nowhere and attaching to the two youkai.

"**Om.****"**

"**GYAAAAAAAAAAHH!!"** screamed the youkai.

"**Wha… What th' hell?!"** exclaimed Gojyo. The youkai continued to writhe in pain. Soon, the laid still on the ground.

"**Damakarashada Sowataya Untara Takanman…****"**

Sanzo stiffened noticeably and his face paled as the owner of the voice came into view, his staff jangling.

"**I am Rikudo,"** he said solemnly. **"I will destroy every last youkai in this world."**

"**This guy is Rikudo?!"** Goku and Gojyo cried out in unison.

Roxanna was, quite frankly, scared shitless of the man before them.

"**Oh! Thank you so much, Rikudo-sama!"** the woman said happily, gratefully.

"**No thanks needed,"** Rikudo said. Sanzo watched him intently. **"This is my mission."**

With the apparent danger over, Goku, Gojyo, and Hakkai turned to go get some more rest.

"**I don't get it, but I'm glad he cleaned up,"** Gojyo said tiredly.

"**Whatever,"** yawned Goku. **"Back to bed."**

"**This way, Rox-anna-dono,"** Hakkai said gently to the girl who had her eyes still locked on Rikudo. He took her by the elbow to lead her out of the kitchen.

"**Hey. You three,"** Rikudo said, putting his staff on Gojyo's shoulder to stop him.

"**What's up, pal?"** asked Gojyo, removing his cig from his mouth.

"**I don't think you're human,"** Rikudo said threateningly.

"**Isn't THAT rude,"** Hakkai said, glancing at the strange man. **"What a thing to say."**

"**You can't fool me,"** snorted Rikudo. **"You three are **_**youkai**_**."**

Goku looked very angry. **"So what's your point? The three of us—"**

"**Easy, Goku,"** Hakkai said calmly, laying a hand on the teen's shoulder.

Roxanna looked very and felt very scared at that moment. She might not have understood the words, but she did understand the tone of voice as well as body language…

"**I already told you! I'll destroy every last youkai in this land!"**

And if that didn't convey malevolence, then Roxanna was a bleach-blonde bimbo with forty K's worth of pocket change in her wallet and a Lamborghini given to her by her very rich boyfriend.

"**Man, this guy's off the deep end!"** Goku said.

"**Just get out of the way!"** shouted Gojyo. The hanyou pushed Roxanna to the ground as he himself dove out of the way of Rikudo's charms. Goku opted to flip up and over Rikudo so he could get behind him.

The golden-eyed teen gasped in shock when he realized Rikudo wasn't in front of him. **"What the…"** he gasped as he located Rikudo behind him.

"**Goku, look out!"** Hakkai called out in warning.

But just as Rikudo was about to score a hit, his staff was diverted by none other than Sanzo. Startled, Rikudo got his first real glimpse of Sanzo's face.

"**All right, Shuei. What the hell are you doing?"** the Sanzo said as shocked filled Rikudo's face.

"**You…"** he gasped.

Roxanna was slowly climbing to her feet, eyeballing Gojyo with an evil glare. She rubbed at her right side, which had met the floor roughly.

"**It's not worth it,"** Sanzo continued**. "Killing these guys will only reduce the idiot population."**

Goku said something, but Hakkai quickly hushed him. Rikudo began to laugh. He laughed in a way that made Roxanna shudder and she edged further away from him.

"**Now I get it! I heard the rumors, but I never thought we'd meet,"** Rikudo said. **"'The current Sanzo priest is traveling with outlaws. His followers are disgusting lowlifes.' What am I doing? That's my line, Genjyo Sanzo. Surely you haven't forgotten that youkai like them killed your master?"**

"**People change, Shuei,"** Sanzo said calmly. **"Clearly you follow your own predictions."**

"**Oh, I haven't changed. Shuei is DEAD," spat Rikudo. "He died ten years ago. The day you left the temple! That was it. You left the mountain that night alone. But right after you left… the youkai murderers attacked again."** Shock colored Sanzo's face as Rikudo continued. **"They were after the Maten Sutra they'd missed. They didn't know you'd just left with it!**

"**The monks stood no chance against them. No surprise, as neither you nor Koumyou Sanzo could eve scratch them the first time.**

"**I had no choice. I cast a forbidden spell on myself. It gave me the power to destroy ALL youkai!"**

"…**Wait. Not the ****Curse of Araya****?"** Sanzo said incredulously.

"**The very one,"** confirmed Rikudo. **"It gave me the power to butcher those demons."** He pulled his robe away to reveal a charm pressed into his chest. Veins bulged around the charm. It looked to be quite painful and all who saw the sight gasped silently. **"But once I released the power, I couldn't control it. Now my body's just a tool for eating the souls of youkai!"**

Sanzo looked on in sadness.

"**For ten years,"** continued Rikudo, **"I've ruthlessly killed innocent youkai. These charms give me the power… and leak searing pain into me when I don't use them. After the youkai went insane and started attacking humans, people called me a **_**savior**_** for what I did. Isn't that rich?"** At that point, he threw his head back and began to cackle insanely.

"**He's completely snapped,"** murmured Gojyo. **"And you call us demons…"**

"This is gonna get bad," Roxanna said aloud in a murmur. Goku cast her a glance as if to say 'Don't attract his attention.'

"**Wretched disgusting youkai!"** Rikudo snarled, snapping out of his laughter. **"Join the dead and feed my curse!"**

"**Everyone outside!"** ordered Hakkai. **"NOW!"**

"**Ack! But it's still rainin'!"** protested Goku even as the three partial youkai ran out into the soaking wet night.

"**This is insane!"** complained Gojyo as he glanced up into the raining sky.

Roxanna was forced to opt on staying dry because Sanzo refused to let her outside. She could understand why, considering she was worse than useless in this sort of situation. The Latino-Caucasian peered through the rain as best as she could.

"**Hm?"** murmured Hakkai. He felt the presence of Rikudo behind him. He swung at the insane human, but Rikudo caught his wrist. At the mere touch, Hakkai felt intense pain flood his senses. **"Huh?"** he cried out before shouting out in agony. **"AA…AAGH!"**

This much Roxanna could see and she was filled with horror.

"**The spell's absorbed my body,"** hissed Rikudo. **"Touch me and you touch death."**

"**Let him go, you!"** Goku shouted as he summoned Nyoi-bo. Rikudo and Goku crashed against each other, both striving for dominance. **"Stupid… RRGH! This footing really sucks!"** complained the Monkey King as he was pushed back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sanzo and Roxanna still at the kitchen door, mostly dry. **"Sanzo? Ana-chan?"** He glared at Sanzo. **"Cheater."**

"**What's wrong, Genjyo Sanzo?"** sneered Rikudo. **"Can't bring yourself to help youkai?"**

"**Think what you want,"** responded Sanzo. **"I have no intention of joining in."** He looked at Rikudo with seeming conviction. **"Those goons can live without me."**

"**And what of the girl?"** continued Rikudo as Gojyo commented, **"Wooow. Prick's got faith in us."**

"**She's just a spectator. None of your concern,"** dismissed Sanzo as Hakkai laughed, **"If we DO die, he'd probably won't give last rites."**

Rikudo heard the comments. **"Hmph, keep talking, trash."** He readied some charms. Sanzo watched as his former friend stepped closer to his intended prey. **"Let me end this farce."**

"**We can't get near him. Our attacks bounce right off! What're we supposed to do?"** demanded Gojyo as Goku tried ineffectually to wipe the rain off of his face.

Sanzo finally abandoned his dry spot under the ledge and glared at Roxanna to stay put. **"Hey,"** he said, garnering Hakkai's attention**. "Stop trying to save him. There's only one way to free him from the curse." **At that, he pulled out his Smith & Wesson revolver. Hakkai remained silent, understanding Sanzo's intent.

Sanzo wanted a mercy killing.

"**You can't, Sanzo!"** Goku protested loudly. **"Maybe he's nuts now…"** Goku pushed Sanzo's gun down, staring him square in they eye. **"But that guy was your friend, right?"**

"…**Goku!"**

"**Seriously, quit it!"** Goku continued, overriding Sanzo's protest.

"**Idiot, he's behind you!"** Gojyo shouted out in warning, but it was too late. It was too late to stop anyone from getting hurt.

Roxanna saw the blood in the rain, the bright red harsh against the muddy gray.

"**Ow! Ow ow ow! He hit me in the head!"** grumbled Goku as he stat up even as the rings on Rikudo's staff jingled as they settled. **"Huh?"** The golden-eyed boy looked disbelievingly at the blood on his hands and then even more disbelievingly at the sight before him.

Sanzo lay prone, his head somewhat resting on Goku's knee. His neck was bared to the gray sky. His normally spotless crème robes, golden breastplate, and sutra all had blood on them, as did the ground beneath him. The source of this vital red substance was evident, for Rikudo's staff had pierced his abdomen. One hand was limply grasping at that staff and wound. For one so grievously injured, his hair was ridiculously full of life, mocking all those that looked on. His violet eyes were unseen behind closed lids.

It was as if an angel had been murdered.

"**S-Sanzo?"** whimpered Goku, stunned.

"**Sanzo!"** shouted Gojyo. Roxanna dashed out into the rain, running to see if one of the men that had helped her now needed her help.

Sanzo convulsed and a second later, the staff was out of his stomach and the priest vomited blood.

"**Sanzo! No!"**

"**Sanzo, open your eyes! Please, Sanzo!"**

"Sanzo! Don't go to sleep!"

"**What the hell were you thinking?!"**

"**Sanzo!"**

"**Sanzo, wake up!"**

"**Sanzo! Sanzo…"** Goku shouted as he shook Sanzo's shoulder desperately.

"**Easy!"** admonished Hakkai. **"Don't move him, Goku."**

Everyone was so concerned about Sanzo's well being that they momentarily forgot Rikudo. But he made himself known after his bout of horror. **"Hah! Serves you right, little priest! Aid the cause of those disgusting youkai, and even humanity won't save you from me!"** He cackled again.

Goku twitched. **"—Ah…"** A bit of a panicked look crossed his face.

"**Oy. Goku?"** Gojyo said, concerned. Roxanna wasn't really trying to pay attention as her current self-imposed duty was keeping pressure on Sanzo's wound.

"**Are you all right?"** Hakkai asked worriedly. He didn't get a response as Goku fell forward onto his hands, gasping for breath. **"Goku?!"**

That got Roxanna's attention. She looked at her new friend in worry.

"**Hah… Haah… Nngh hgck… Haaaaah! Hah hah hagh!"**

"Goku! Breathe!" Roxanna said, but it was a useless gesture considering they couldn't understand her.

"**Hgk! Hah!"**

"**Goku?!"** Gojyo was really worried now. For all the callous airs he put on about hating his youngest companion, he really did care for the little monkey.

"**Please snap out of it!"**

"**Hah! Haah! Aaaaaaaah!"** And suddenly, his diadem shattered.

"**His power limiter!"** both Gojyo and Hakkai gasped in unison.

Rikudo also watched in shock.

"**Aah! Haaaaaaaaaaah!"**

"**Goku!"**

"Goku!"

"**This is bad! Stay back, Gojyo!"** Hakkai ordered, casting a glance to Roxanna to make sure she didn't do something so foolish as to try and help Goku. A small amount of relief flooded him when he saw the girl still next to Sanzo.

"**Ha ah ha!"**

Now that the power limiter was off, Goku reverted to his true self.

The boy stood… but he was no longer a boy.

His hair, which had been short, extended far past the nape of his neck and down to the small of his back. Each nail on his hands had grown wickedly sharp and pointed. His ears swept up into elfin points. But his eyes were what unsettled Roxanna the most. They were the same liquid gold as usual, but his pupils were slitted… and they bore a concentration so intense that Roxanna prayed he never looked at her.

"**Oh, shit!"** Gojyo muttered.

"**He's reverted to his natural form without the seal on his youkai powers,"** Hakkai said tersely. Rikudo, for the moment, was stunned speechless.

"Goku," breathed Roxanna, her hands still trying to keep Sanzo's blood where it belonged… in him.

"**Ha ha! So the brat shows his true colors, does he?"** Rikudo exclaimed. **"Now the entire world can witness your dirty blood!"**

Goku didn't say a word, but one second he was standing a couple of meters away from Rikudo and then suddenly he was slamming the former charms master into the ground.

"**Wha?!"** gasped the once-holy man. He grabbed at Goku's wrist, trying to force him off with pain. But Goku weathered it, even grinning a bit.

Rikudo took a cheap shot with his foot, forcing Goku to dodge. However, the golden-eyed teen rushed him again and out of desperation, Rikudo threw a fist full of charms at him.

But the charms ignited before they could even touch Goku.

Rikudo gasped in shock. **"Impossible! No aura alone can burn my charms!"**

Of course, Goku didn't even pause. He again rushed at Rikudo and caught Rikudo's chin with his fist. The man fell to the ground with a cry of pain as his breath left him. Goku stepped closer and smirked as Rikudo vainly tried to catch his breath. Before Rikudo could even begin to defend himself, he had Goku on top of him. The berzerked Monkey King pummeled the prone Rikudo; the sound of flesh striking flesh, bone impacting against bone filling the air.

"**You've got to be shitting me,"** murmured Gojyo. He had been watching the ordeal with wide eyes.

"**This isn't the time to be impressed, Gojyo,"** reprimanded Hakkai as he knelt down by Roxanna.

"He's breathing," Roxanna said, her hands and forearms stained red from the blood still escaping the wound. "This rain isn't allowing his blood to clot." Part of her was wondering why she was trying to say something to them when they couldn't understand.

"**We need to stop the bleeding,"** Hakkai said shortly, feeling bad that the girl next to him had said something probably important and he couldn't even understand the gist of what she was trying to tell him. He made a mental note to find some way to communicate with her, though, out of pure curiosity. She obviously had some form of First Aid training, seeing as she was keeping pressure on Sanzo's wound.

"**What're you gonna do?"** asked Gojyo.

"**I'll close the wound by channeling my chi. The hit missed any vital organs, so he might still live."** The green-eyed man gently pushed aside the girl's hands and focused his life energy into his hands. Roxanna watched with wide eyes as his hands began to glow. Hakkai then focused that very chi into his comrade's wound, eliciting a small gasp from Sanzo's unconscious form.

"**Rox-anna-dono and I will take care of Sanzo,"** Hakkai informed the still standing kappa. **"Gojyo, please stop Goku."**

"**Right!"** agreed Gojyo. **"But how? How the hell do I do that?!"**

"**Without Sanzo, I have no idea. But I do know Goku has lost his sanity,"** Hakkai said. **"His unchecked power will continue to grow out of control. He'll destroy everything in his path until we find a way to help him."**

The teen just mentioned had decided Rikudo's shoulder would look prettier with a bite mark adorning it. As he bit off both cloth and flesh, Rikudo screamed out in pain.

Gojyo, still not having any clue as to how to stop Goku, watched in horror as the little punk that he exercised his insults on try to truly kill a man.

However, to everyone's shock, Rikudo's rosary started glowing brightly, forcing Goku away. Rikudo used this to his advantage and beat a hasty retreat.

"**He ran away?!"** Gojyo exclaimed, both shocked and relieved.

Goku was standing there, confused by the change in the fight.

Rikudo's disembodied voice spoke up then.

"_**Far from it trash. This isn't the end. I WILL come back. And when I do, your rotten youkai souls will feed my curse!"**_

For now, the threat of Rikudo was gone.

However, that didn't mean that the danger was over…

* * *

Angels and Demons is a novel by Dan Brown. The quick synopsis of this story is the esteemed Professor Langdon is swept up into a very puzzling mystery involving a destructive substance that could annihilate the entire city of Rome… and he's only got a very set amount of time to solve the puzzle.

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 2: Chapter 10: Rain (_Fully Completed_)

Volume 2: Chapter 11: Shower of Bullets

Volume 3: Chapter 12: Metamorphose (_Partial_)

* * *

Please review!!!!!!

Constructive criticizm is always appreciated.


	4. III: The Shining Ones

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Saiyuki. I wish I did... but I don't.

**Reviews!!!**

Thanks for the reviews. I've got four!!!

Okay, well, three. One of them is a reply to a previous argument sent to User **Get Happy**, and he responded saying I'm a coward for turning off the PM system. How the hell was I supposed to know?!

Thank you, **Get Happy**, for the flame. It warms my toes even if it makes my heart mad. I realize I can't please everyone, but at least you gave my story a shot.

Also, thanks to **DarkSahara** for the very happy review. And thanks for making me a part of your favorites!!! I hope to please you further in the future!

And of course, my last review from... someone... yes, they labled themselves that. An anonymous review. You're comment seems to make up for **Get Happy**'s comment. I thank you for that.

Also, thanks to all of those who hit on my story. 29 for the first chapter, 12 for the second, and 15 for the third. Fifty-six total.

**

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Chapter III: The Shining Ones**

"**Oy, Goku,"** Gojyo said, approaching the currently berzerked teen. Hakkai and Roxanna were both near Sanzo, having helped the violet-eyed man under the ledge of the inn. Hakkai was massaging his wrist as Roxanna occasionally felt Sanzo's pulse.

The girl couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew she owed more to this individual for allowing her to come along with them. She knew his heart was concealed within an icy fortress; a fortress he used to protect himself. Roxanna wasn't sure when she realized this about the priest, seeing that she couldn't speak to him or anything, but she had and that made her feel indebted to him.

"**You okay?"** Gojyo continued. **"You don't look so—"**

He was cut off by Goku's fist lashing out at him. An instant later, Hakkai cried out to the red-eyed man.

"**Gojyo, no!"** Hakkai shouted with no small amount of alarm. **"Goku can't recognize you now."**

"**Shit!"** Gojyo swore, moving to avoid Goku's fists again. **"He's completely insane!"** He grabbed Goku by the wrist, only to have Goku bare his fangs at him. **"Crap!"** Gojyo swung out at Goku, snarling out, **"Here… eat this!"**

Unfortunately, he missed and, much to his chagrin and pain, Goku took him up on his offer and clamped down on Gojyo's arm. Gojyo swore, trying to ineffectually get Goku off.

"**Gojyo!"**

"Gojyo!"

"**Wake up, dammit! You stupid monkey!"** roared Gojyo in pain.

"_**Hold him still."**_

"**Who said that?"** Gojyo exclaimed but nonetheless complied.

An instant later, Goku froze up and a halo of light formed around his head before it contracted and congealed into a familiar golden coronet. His features meshed into his normal looks as his eyes drooped shut and he fell asleep.

"**Goku!"**

"**Little punker's asleep,"** groused Gojyo. Roxanna scooted over to where Goku was slumped against Gojyo. She poked him in the cheek and was rewarded with a snore. She snickered as Gojyo raised an eyebrow at her obvious childishness.

"**What just happened?"** Hakkai asked, worried.

"**My, my,"** an unknown voice said. **"Very sloppy, boys."**

The group of three turned to see a rather bizarre sight.

"**Oh… who are you?"** Hakkai said, not quite sure where to place his eyes.

The bizarre sight was a pair of individuals. One was standing subservient to the other. The leader of the pair was a well-endowed woman with long black hair, dark eyes, a square-ish jaw, and a know-it-all grin. And when one says "well-endowed", Roxanna thought 'Where's her shirt?!'

"**To think you'd get stuck so soon. You guys really do suck."**

"**Wha? Who the hell do you think you are?!"** Gojyo said, still supporting Goku's limp form.

The woman ignored Gojyo's protest even as her aide sputtered. She walked over to Roxanna and sized her up.

"**Yo,"** she said simply.

"Who're you?" Roxanna asked, more to herself than the woman.

"In a moment…" The woman smiled at the shocked look on Roxanna's face (and though she couldn't see it, Hakkai and Gojyo had a similar look). "Didn't expect that, I see. You've thrown me through a loop, doll. You weren't supposed to be here."

Hakkai and Gojyo watched the pair speak. **"Any clue who the broad is?"** Gojyo asked. Hakkai shook his head negatively.

"Wha?"

"This story doesn't… or rather, _didn't_ involve you. Now it does and for some reason it feels more right now that you _are_ here," the woman explained but at the same time didn't. "But you've got a bigger problem."

"What kind of problem _besides_ not being able to talk to anyone?" Roxanna asked dryly.

"There _is_ that, but you need to be able to defend yourself. This world isn't a safe place. Not with the youkai going berserk and all." The strange individual smiled. "But lucky for you, I can fix both things."

"Eh?!"

Before Roxanna could even react, the indecent woman had jabbed her square in the forehead. Roxanna exclaimed in pain.

"Two gifts. One, the language. The other, a bit of magic. You aren't much of a fighter to begin with, so… I gave you the power over lightning…"

"Okay… why'd you hit me in the head?"

"Look. Who are you?" demanded Gojyo impatiently. Roxanna froze and turned to stare at him. Did she understand what he had said?

"Fine, fine," sighed the woman, turning. She put one hand to her chest as her assistant began to rattle off a speech.

"This honorable figure is one of the five Bodhisattvas who rule Heaven! Thy symbol of Love and Mercy! You are in the presence of the Great Kanzeon Bosatsu!"

Apparently this meant something to Hakkai and Gojyo for both looked freaked.

"Wha?! _That's_ the Great Kannon?! That _thing_?" Gojyo exclaimed.

"She seems more like the symbol of self-love and self-interest," Hakkai said, his smile a little fixed.

"You've got some nerve…" muttered Kannon.

"And you didn't when you used that claw of a nail on my forehead?!" demanded Roxanna of the god-dess. Both men looked at her in surprise at the fact they could understand her. That was before Gojyo remembered a very important detail.

"Wait… Was that your work just now? You restored Goku's power limiter?"

"That's right," confirmed Kannon. "That runt's diadem is different from the average limiter." For some reason, Kannon looked saddened. "It isn't made of earthly materials, but divine power made solid. The Monkey King's diadem can only be made by the gods. THAT is how powerful your friend Goku is. He's been like that since his time in Heaven."

"What?" breathed Hakkai.

"Heaven?" Roxanna questioned.

Kannon ignored both questions. Instead s-he walked over to Sanzo's unconscious form. "My, my," s-he mused. "What are we going to do about THIS one? Looks like he took a nasty clip."

"I closed his wound," Hakkai informed Kannon, "But I'm worried about the blood he lost." His face showed his worry.

"Just siddown and relax," Kannon said in an almost brusque self-assured manner. "For me, nothing is impossible."

Hakkai turned to the semi-forgotten assistant. "Um," he began. "Are all Gods like this?"

"She's a god?" Roxanna chirped, slightly shocked.

"Ah, no. Not as such," the assistant informed the green-eyed man.

"All right." S-he turned to Gojyo and pointed one long finger at him. "You! I bet you've got blood rushing to your head. Gimmie your face!"

"What the hell?!" demanded Gojyo. It was obvious hir 'request' was a little too much. "Look, I don't care if you're a God. That attitude's gonna—"

He couldn't protest anymore, for suddenly he was in a major lip lock with Kannon.

It was a rather tense silence as the 'kiss' continued. Roxanna edged over closer to Hakkai. "Does this happen often?" she murmured to him.

He just mutely shook his head '_no_', never once removing his eyes from the scene.

Suddenly Kannon pulled away, allowing Gojyo to gasp for air. "That should be enough. Quite the kisser. You must get around." S-he said the last two statements absently.

Gojyo's expression was startled, if not a little scared. "Huh? What's going on…?" he said, his voice coming slowly. "…Feel so…" At that, his shakes knocked his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground.

"Gojyo!" came both Hakkai's and Roxanna's twin shouts. Hakkai, seeing as he was still holding Goku, couldn't help him. However, Roxanna was soon by his side, dropping down onto the ground next to him.

Her fingers found his pulse as Kannon waggled a long finger at him. "Take it easy, playboy. I've just sucked out a lot of your blood. Don't want to black out, do you?" Indeed, his pulse was flighty and a little weak.

"—Damn," swore Gojyo, the vibrations of his vocal cords reaching Roxanna's fingers. She removed her hand even as he continued. "A warning would have been nice," he growled.

Kannon was once again ignoring all others for the task at hand. S-he sauntered over to Sanzo and grabbed him by the hair, causing him to groan in pain. S-he said something too softly for anyone to hear hir. Then s-he kissed him.

Much to everyone's surprise, Sanzo took a swipe at the God-dess.

"Sanzo," Hakkai cried out in astonishment. "He woke up!"

"No. I'm guessing that was reflex," Kannon said, shooting down that idea. S-he laughed softly and then said "…You really are a cutie." S-he spun around to face Hakkai. "Anyway, he won't be needing a transfusion now. Aren't gods amazing?"

"Thank you very much," Hakkai thanked her even as Roxanna muttered, "What's amazing is the way you work."

"If you want to thank me, pay me with your actions. I didn't help out of kindness or morality. I need you to complete your most important journey." S-he pointed at Roxanna. "And you're going with them," s-he said bluntly. S-he looked back at Hakkai. "You're the ones who have to stop Gyumaoh's resurrection." Suddenly, s-he spun on heel. "Well… later."

"Ah… wait!" protested Hakkai, but even as he said it, they vanished. Gojyo had a hand on Roxanna's shoulder so he could remain steady. Once he got his footing, he released her. Hakkai looked at Roxanna, who looked very shocked. "Oh, dear."

"We have to take her with us?!" Gojyo exclaimed, shocked. "She doesn't even speak the same language!"

Roxanna looked at him with a sour expression. "I'm right here, you know." Gojyo blinked and looked at her.

"Since when can _you_ speak Chinese?!"

"Since when are _you_ a dumbass?"

"Now, now. Let's get Goku and Sanzo inside," Hakkai said, breaking up the fight. "It wouldn't do for them to get sick."

With a little effort, Hakkai and Roxanna helped Sanzo inside and Gojyo complained bitterly about having to haul Goku's sleeping form inside.

They settled the unconscious duo into their respective beds and then turned in themselves. Roxanna stayed awake for a little while, wondering if Tim and Jacob were okay. Just before she fell asleep, a stray thought floated through her mind about Tim's anime addiction. A nagging thought butted against the back of her mind in a really annoying manner, but she couldn't figure it out before she was out like a light.

* * *

The Shining Ones is book three in the series "The Tamuli" by David Eddings. The quick synopsis of this story is that Sparhawk, along with his friends, are struggling to calm the civil unrest in the Tamuli Empire and ally themselves with a group of people titled 'the Shining Ones'.

**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

Volume 3: Chapter 12: Metamorphose (_Fully Completed_)

Volume 3: Chapter 13: Faith in Mind (_Partial_)

* * *

Review, please. And don't just hate if you don't like it. Give me a suggestion on **how** to improve. I realize I'm not a professional writer. I'm just doing this because I love to **_create_**. 


	5. IV: To Kill a Mockingbird

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Saiyuki. I really, really don't. Please don't sue me! gives puppy dog eyes

* * *

**NOTICE:** I realize that you feel that I update quickly. Truthfully, I'm posting things that I have written some time ago and I will slow down considerably when I run out of things to put up. I'm sorry if this doesn't suit your fancy, but I can't churn things out as fast as I would like. I have a job and a life to attend.

* * *

**Reviews:**

Khait: stares at reviews Oh, my... faints and falls to floor

Roxanna: hears noise and comes to investigate Uh... what tha hell? looks at reviews page Oh, you're popular, huh? Seven reviews since you last updated. Wow. You're popular.

Khait: still unconcious

Roxanna: nudges with foot C'mon. Wakey, wakey.

Khait: not responding

Roxanna: sighs Oh, well. I guess I have to do the reviews for now. Thanks to **Chik-A-Doom** for your reply to Khait's rant. You have no idea how impressed she and I are that you actually took the time to read the opening stuff. Most skip to the meat of the story. To **DarkSahara**, please don't ask me to go back to not speaking Chinese!!! Khait's thinking about taking it away for a period of time and that would be really, really awkward! And I guess the plot is moving a bit fast, but that's just how it goes in the manga... or so Khait says. Just so you know, Khait's already working on non-storyline stuff so that she can cause more interaction between me and them. rolls eyes I swear she's trying to set me up... sighs looks at reviews again Oh... And Rebbekha reviewed... Thanks! You already know how much Khait appreciates your review! And your 'favorizing'? quirks eyebrow Whatever you say, Rebbekha. Also thanks to... laughs 'Someone'! I know you confused Khait with the whole 'which gender is this person?' issue. After all, I live in her head... most of the time. Especially when she's not in it. smirks **EarthDragonAlchemist**, you are right. Khait is either incredibly insane or incredibly intelligent to think of the language barrier. I hate her for it. Imagine being dumped into a world where you can't even speak the language! It's crazy! **Freeloaders.inc**, I like your username. grins And the compliment is nice to have. Always a pleasure to serve... that's what the unconcious lump here would say if she was concious. I'm sorry, to **DayDreamer9**, for the sailor language. Honestly, none of them are overly Christian nor very gentlemanly. I'm not ladylike. It's bound to cause problems. You were warned in the Summary about the language and violence. The manga, according to Khait, has a _lot_ of swearing but she doesn't ever really notice it anymore. shrugs Thanks for making an alert for it. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I get to freak the hell out.

* * *

**Chapter IV: To Kill a Mockingbird**

It was finally morning and Roxanna awoke from a rather restful sleep. Slowly, she stretched before she did her usual stunt of rolling straight to the edge of her bed and half-falling out.

She heard a soft chuckle and snapped her head around to see her new 'traveling companion' standing right there, covering his mouth in an attempt to stop laughing. She scowled at him until he regained control.

"Did you sleep well, Roxanna-dono?" he asked her, his smile still there.

"Sorta. I mean, there _was_ that interruption last night," she replied dryly. Hakkai chuckled again. "So…"

"It seems you are to go with us," Hakkai said sadly. "I'd rather not see you hurt." He walked over and sat down on the vacant bed next to hers.

"Well," Roxanna sighed, also sitting as she ran her fingers through her bed hair. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't. I'd rather go down fighting if I'm gonna die," Roxanna said with a grin. "If ya get my meanin'…"

"I do." A thought occurred to the green-eyed man. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked with a light blush. It was terribly improper to ask a lady's age, after all.

"Me? I'm gonna be eighteen in a couple of days," Roxanna said happily. She had been waiting forever for that day. Too bad she wasn't going to be able to get to vote or anything.

"You're seventeen?!" Hakkai yelped in shock. She was younger than _Goku_!

"Almost eighteen," Roxanna said flatly. She froze as that annoying little thought from last night suddenly hit her full force. "Shit!" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet. "Shit shit _shit_ _**shit**_!"

"What's wrong?" Hakkai also exclaimed, this time in alarm, as he too stood abruptly.

"No no nonononono! Not happening! This isn't happening! No way! No how! Nuh-uh-uh-uh-uh!" She was pulling on her hair in frustration. Hakkai, shocked, fought to disentangle her hands from her locks of hair. Finally they were both free and he held her wrists firm in his grasp.

"What's wrong?" Gojyo asked, hastily entering the room. He had heard the commotion from a couple doors down.

"I don't know," Hakkai responded, glancing at the kappa.

"Impossible… why? Why this one?" muttered Roxanna absently.

"Ana-chan?" Gojyo said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Why _this_ story? Why not Harry Potter? Anything else? Why this one?!" bemoaned Roxanna, not really paying attention to either Gojyo or the babble she was spewing off. "I hate anime! Tim should be here, not me!"

"Ana-chan!"

Startled, Roxanna turned to look into those red eyes.

"What's wrong?" Hakkai asked gently, bringing Roxanna's attention to him.

"I'm in a story. A world… that until yesterday… didn't exist for me," Roxanna said, dazed. "_Saiyuki_…"

Both men exchanged a glance of '_huh_?'

"What do you mean?"

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from America, the land of annoying presidents and bureaucratic assholes. I have a family there, and friends too. But I can't just skip across an ocean to see them. They're in a whole 'nother dimension… a dimension where _this_—" At 'this' her hands tried to gesture, but Hakkai was still holding them firmly. "—is all a story." She still sounded dazed and her gaze, it seemed, was trying to bore a hole through Hakkai's chest. She had come to look there as she explained what was going on.

After a moment, she closed her eyes and sank into Gojyo's grasp. A lone tear slid down her cheek. Hakkai let go of her wrists and excused himself as he had to go check up on Sanzo and Goku.

Gojyo, however, stayed. This little lady looked broken and that wasn't a very good look for her. He wiped away the tear trail, startling her. Her almost black eyes locked with his red ones.

He grinned at her. "You know, a frown doesn't suit your face." She glared. "Not to say _that_ particular look is a good one, either."

"Get to the point," said the grumpy Latino-Caucasian.

He laughed and let her go completely. She stood and shifted a little away from him, a light blush staining her cheeks and her expression still sulky. "Don't get upset 'cause you can't see your family. I haven't seen mine since I was twelve. It's not like you won't ever see them again. You just gotta remember that going forwards is better than going back."

He gazed at her a moment longer before he walked out of the room and out of sight.

"Thanks…"

The word left her lips, but there was no one save herself and the room to hear her gratitude.

She sank down onto the bed and stared at her feet for a moment before abruptly standing once more.

"Why am I just sitting here?" she said aloud, as though to scold herself. "You're a moron, Sanchez. A right moron. You have a chance to do something you can tease your brother about for years on end and feel completely superior for once in something he likes. Why leave it? Take it and make it yours!"

"Who are you talking to?" Goku said, his golden-eyes curious. Roxanna immediately blushed as she turned around to face him. He was standing in the doorway. The only reason he wasn't surprised that Roxanna was talking in the same language as he was because she had spoken with him earlier after he had woken up. Goku's reaction was predictable when he realized that they could understand each other. He glomped her.

"Um… I was just talking to myself," she said with a nervous laugh. A look of concern flitted over her features. "How are you doing?"

"Mm… I'm okay," Goku replied. "Hakkai's gonna cook something yummy an' I had to ask the kitchen if we could borrow it."

Roxanna looked out the window. "His cooking's that good?"

Apparently, she had hit upon his all time favorite subject and his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Yeah, he does, Ana-chan!" he chirped, bouncing slightly with his bubbly excitement. He babbled for a little while longer about food before Roxanna excused herself.

She was curious as to how Sanzo was doing. He was the only one of the group that didn't know about her ability to speak Chinese. Roxanna, who hadn't spoken more Spanish than the average American population, was still slightly stunned by that fact.

The Latino-Caucasian entered the room to find Sanzo lying on his back with a hand over his eyes and a depreciating grin on his mouth. He had just muttered the phrase "I'm so pathetic."

The door creaked slightly at her entrance, causing him to look over at the door. "What do you want?" he grouched as he looked back up at the ceiling, not expecting her to answer at all.

"Just to see how you were doing," Roxanna said shyly as she closed the door behind her. Sanzo started the slightest bit when she said recognizable words, but immediately covered up his shock with a scowl. The girl sat down on one of the vacant chairs near his bed. "So?"

"When did you start speaking Chinese?" the priest asked harshly.

"When this ugly bimbo came out of nowhere and decided to jab me with her evil finger of doom," Roxanna said flippantly, waving her hand around a bit.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I think I liked you more when I couldn't understand you," Roxanna said, looking at the ceiling herself.

"Same here."

"Then why are you talking to me?"

"Why did you even come to see how I was doing?" the irate houshi snapped out, looking at her with intense violet eyes.

"Just to see if you were fine. That was a scary bit, yesterday. Never had I seen so much blood…" Roxanna's voice faded as her eyes got a far away look to them. She shook her head and looked at him with a cheerful grin that was sarcastic in so many ways. "Of course, I personally think blood is the in thing… especially when it is _in_ someone rather than _on_ the ground."

Sanzo glared at her. For some reason, this girl was just pissing him off.

Roxanna blinked slowly, almost owlishly. "Um… how old is everybody…? In your group, that is…" she asked, remembering Hakkai's shock.

"Why does it matter?" sniped Sanzo.

"Calm down…" Roxanna rolled her eyes. "I just think Hakkai was expecting me to be older or something. He kinda freaked when I told him I was gonna be eighteen in a couple of days."

"Goku's the youngest at eighteen," informed Sanzo, rather bluntly. "Why do you care? You're staying here when we leave."

"Can't. Ugly bimbo broad decided that I'd better go with you. She even made sure I was able to defend myself," Roxanna said.

"Who is this 'bimbo' you keep referring to?" Sanzo said, suddenly wondering why exactly Roxanna kept referring to this 'person'.

"Kept callin' herself somthin' weird. 'The Great' something-or-'nother…"

Sanzo felt a distinct chill. "The Great Kannon?" he asked.

"Yeah! The lady without the shirt!"

"You do realize you just insulted a _god_, right?"

"Yeah? So? I demand recompense for the manicured nail drilling itself into my forehead. I return the favor with name calling." Roxanna just shrugged in a rather nonchalant manner.

"…" Sanzo stared at her. Even he, the world's worst Buddhist, wouldn't dare speak of a god in that manner. That was like demanding for a life filled with strife and bad luck.

Roxanna, during his musings, had held up a hand and was currently snapping her fingers. Every time she snapped, sparks of lavender electricity would fly from them. "Why purple?" she muttered under her breath as she continued snapping, bringing larger zaps of energy forth.

She snapped out of her little trance and glanced back at him. He was steadfast ignoring her, and she knew it. But it was better than walking around in the inn and having a bunch of weird looks being thrown her way.

After all, she wasn't exactly very Chinese looking… what with her Cuban genetic makeup shining like a beacon to those around her.

And besides, this gave her a wonderful chance to see if she can use her electricity in various ways. Practice might not make perfect, but it can sure get you damn close.

She held two fingers together and concentrated as a thin stream of electricity jumped into existence in the small gap. Slowly, with her tongue held between her teeth, she spread her fingers apart to see how far she could get the lightning before it snapped.

And she had gotten her fingers six inches apart when the lightning vanished.

She tried again, this time with the palms of her hand as the focal point. She got her hands two feet apart before the broader lick of lighting crackled out of existence.

Tiredly, she rubbed the sweat off of her brow, panting slightly from the exertion. Apparently, it took mental as well as physical effort just to maintain any form of beam.

She didn't know what possessed her, but Roxanna looked at Sanzo. The moment their eyes connected, he rolled over and went back to 'sleep'. He had been watching her practice. Unsettled by the intensity of his eyes, she stood. Apologizing for the intrusion, she left the room and went to seek out Hakkai to see if she could help him with anything.

And with that, the rest of the day passed quickly with a good meal and a somewhat-forced happy atmosphere.

Before noon the next day, Gojyo had been stuck with guard duty as Hakkai and Goku went to fetch supplies. Roxanna stayed in the rented room just down the hall and continued to practice on her lighting. She had gotten better, but not anywhere useful. The Latino-Caucasian found that if she concentrated, she didn't have to arc the electricity between her palms but instead just charge the palms of her hands and she could easily electrocute someone. It was a minor improvement, not at all huge in any way… but she felt ridiculously proud of herself that she had mastered even the simplest thing.

She heard voices down the hall, but she paid it no mind. If it were Sanzo, then Gojyo'd take care of it, seeing as the kappa was supposed to make sure Sanzo didn't run straight out of the inn.

Although, how he would do that with a stomach injury like he had… she didn't know.

When Hakkai and Goku got back, Gojyo was no longer sitting in front of the door to Sanzo's room. This immediately made Hakkai and Goku go check on the blonde monk, and much to their surprise (and displeasure), Sanzo was indeed not there.

Hakkai, predictably, lectured Gojyo about the importance of Sanzo not straining that wound. Gojyo, also fairly predictably, said that Sanzo would have left one way or the other and that he had been making sure that his head hadn't been decorated with a hole. Besides, insisted the kappa, he had guarded that door just like Hakkai had ordered… and Hakkai hadn't said anything about guarding the window, which is how Sanzo made his grand escape.

Then Roxanna suggested something fairly remarkable. "Why don't we just go and pick him up? If he's strong enough to run around even in his condition, then he's strong enough to live through just about anything. Why argue about something that's already happened?"

The group, at that point, decided that she indeed had a point and should probably pack up and get to the same area Sanzo was before the blond houshi decided to walk all the way to India.

They put their stuff in Hakuryuu (currently in Jiipu form, obviously) and drove out of town, towards the west. About a mile outside of the town, Hakkai pulled to a stop and the four of them waited, trusting Hakkai's instinct that Sanzo would indeed show up there.

As they chattered aimlessly for about twenty minutes, a lone blonde and slightly beaten-up figure stepped out of the forest, his violet eyes surprised to see the vehicle and its occupants.

Sanzo walked towards the jeep and caught the attention of his traveling companions.

"Where're you headed, stranger?" called Gojyo, a cigarette between his lips as Roxanna smiled.

"First ride's ten thousand yen, 'kay?" joked Goku, holding his hand out for the money.

Sanzo stood there as he scratched his head for a moment, looking both annoyed and confused as to why the group was even there.

"Well?" asked Roxanna.

"I'm going west, obviously," the blond monk said, tossing his gun into Goku's lap as he climbed into the passenger seat. "And I'm going to sleep," he continued. "Anyone who wakes me up dies."

"Yes, yes, of course," agreed Hakkai, his expression that of relief.

"Sleep well," Roxanna's voice came to the houshi as he sank into unconsciousness.

* * *

To Kill a Mockingbird is by someone I can't remember at the moment and I cannot remember the storyline either. Forgive me for this, but I found the title to be highly appropriate.

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**Notes from the fanfic artist:**

I was reading the end of the fourth manga and laughed. First of all, let me explain my position on Chin Yisou. I don't like the guy yet he's pretty damn awesome. He is a three-dimensional twisted psychopath that delights in getting to Hakkai… or Gonou, as the case may be. Anyway, he's actually a good-looking creature. 'Creature' referencing his corpse nature, naturally. LOL. Anywhosits… When I was doing a little test to see which character would sleep with me, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Chin Yisou was the chosen one the first time around. I mean, I'm most like Hakkai. It would only be natural to have Chin Yisou as my 'bedding partner'.

Maybe I'll do a fic-let with him starring…

Hm… Interesting idea.

Well, I'm wandering. Apparently Minekura-sama thought he was a pretty good character, too. She really liked him, it seems, and she got letters telling her to off him quick. LMFAO!!!

Ahem. Well, chapter list below, per usual. Thanks for reading my rant and tell me what you think about my new one-shot centered on Chin Yisou. Yep. I've already written it. I'm easily sidetracked like that.

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**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

Volume 3: Chapter 13: Faith in Mind (_Fully Completed_)

Volume 3: Chapter 14: Goodnight

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**Read my new story:**

_**Nightmare on Highway 56**_

One Shot Fic Starring Chin Yisou and Yours Truly, Khait Khepri


	6. V: The Dark is Rising

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Saiyuki. I do not own Saiyuki. I do not own Saiyuki. I do not own Saiyuki... I really wish I did, though!

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**Thanks for the reviews!**

To **DayDreamer9**, I may go back through and add to the story. I haven't had much time nor inspiration as of late to write. To **Kihaku Yamato**, already done if you haven't noticed. Thanks for the help. **Chik-A-Doom**, I don't have any clue, honestly. I haven't been to the bookstore in over a month, so I don't even have the latest volume of Saiyuki. And it's kinda a pleasure to have someone that thinks my writing is this good. As I said to DayDreamer9, I haven't had much inspiration to write. I wrote a one shot involving Ni Jeinyi and that took more out of me than I'm willing to admit. **Fcs**... You put it on your phone?! ...Wow, I'm really honored.

* * *

**I'm sorry for the slow update, but honestly, what is a girl supposed to do?**

**Read my new one shot, 'Depravity', made for a friend.**

**However, do not read 'Depravity' if you DO NOT like severely dark mature themes.**

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**Chapter V: The Dark is Rising**

Roxanna gazed at the mass of people walking through the city they had come upon. Save for the lack of cell phones and other modern things, it looked a lot like the bustling crowds of any major metropolis that didn't have much in the way of fast traffic… like New York City and Tokyo.

"Wow, coool!" Goku said in awe beside her. "Lookit all the people!"

"Looks a little like a Chinese version of NYC without the cars," agreed Roxanna.

Goku looked at her, confused. "What's an 'NYC'?" he asked her.

Roxanna stared at him. "Whaddaya mean, 'what's an NYC'? New York City is the most internationally renown city of the United States save for Hollywood!"

"I'm afraid we haven't heard of either of those cities, Rox-anna-dono," apologized Hakkai, making sure to settle any argument before it could even start… though it wouldn't have. Goku did look a little hurt when he found out 'Ana-chan' had thought him to be stupid.

"It's been a while since we've been to such a busy town," Gojyo said, ignoring Roxanna and Goku's little discussion.

"Mm," agreed Sanzo.

"This place seems mostly unaffected by the youkai problem," Hakkai noted as the group of five walked down the street in the midst of all the laughing, talking people.

Of course, what else would be on a street packed with people but…

"Sanzo! I want one of those!" Goku exclaimed excitedly as he gestured at one particular stand laden with meat buns.

"No," the houshi said flatly.

"Whaah!" Goku said, immediately spouting crocodile tears. "Mean ol' priest! Droopy-eyes! Baldy!"

"I hear nothing," persisted Sanzo, though he did say "And who you calling bald?"

"Now, now," comforted Hakkai as Goku 'cried' into his chest while Roxanna looked on disbelievingly. "What's wrong with buying him a beef bun?" asked Hakkai of Sanzo.

"A spoiled child develops bad habits, Hakkai."

"Spoken like a good mommy," Gojyo 'complimented' Sanzo as he patted the houshi on the shoulder.

"Do you have a death wish?" Sanzo flatly asked the kappa.

Roxanna sidled up to the monk as he pulled out his cigarettes and took one into his mouth. "Speaking of bad habits!" Roxanna said, appearing beside the pair and stealing away the cigarettes in a flash. "You should follow your own advice!" she chirped as she ducked away from Gojyo's grab and Sanzo's fan…

Which lead to Sanzo's fan smacking Gojyo's hand.

"Dammit, priest! Watch where you're aiming that thing!" swore Gojyo.

"You should have been watching where you were putting your hands, idiot," Sanzo replied calmly, though he was visibly angered at the fact that Roxanna had just snitched his Marlboros.

"Hello, hello. You sirs and lady over there," a voice said nearby, causing all of the ikkou to turn and see where it came from.

Sitting there in a stand was an old man in what looked to be a fortuneteller's stand. "You are travelers, yes?" he said, once he was sure he had garnered their attention. "Chin Yisou will tell the future of your journey."

"Fortune telling?" Roxanna said in disbelief. "Like reading palms and all that crap?" She looked at Sanzo. "I hope you're not buying into this." Sanzo looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Feh. No thanks, pal," declined Gojyo. "Telling fortunes with mahjong tiles is a crock, thank you." They turned to leave.

"How cruel!" the old man, Yisou, said. "And here I see… that your faces foretell DEATH. How frightening. Hm hm!" The entire group froze and turned back, expressions of disbelief on their faces. "You're living close to death, yes? I can tell." He lifted one long fingered hand with a very long nail and said, "Especially… yes." He aimed that long nail right at Hakkai. "You." He lowered the hand and tucked it under his chin. "That lovely false smile hides it so nicely. But your eyes, good sir, are those of a sinner. And the scar on your belly," he continued. "The symbol of your sins. You've committed crimes you can't atone for, yes?"

Roxanna stared in horror as this man denounced the green-eyed man. Yeah, she knew Hakkai was… well… a youkai… pardon the rhyming… But this man just had to go and say all those cruel things and get Hakkai to look quite…

The Latino-Caucasian looked at the wordless green-eyed man. He looked every bit as shocked as she was. Somewhere in her, anger started boiling up.

But she wasn't the one that popped first.

"Shaddup, you gross old crinkly!" Goku shouted, slamming his hands down on the table, making the mahjong tiles rattle on the table as Chin Yisou said a soft 'oh my'. "If you wanna fight, let's go!" exclaimed the hot-blooded little chimp.

Chin Yisou grinned in a rather mocking manner as he leaned forward. "I'm just a fortuneteller. And not a very reliable one… yes?" Goku growled at the tone.

"God, what a jerk," murmured Roxanna, already losing interest in the situation.

Yisou chuckled softly and lifted a tile. "See? The tiles tell your destiny. Calamity follows thee." Every one of them stared at the tile. "Indeed," continued Chin Yisou with his Riddler (TM of Batman) grin. "And yet, it's up to you whether or not you believe." The tile was marked with the character 'devastation'.

"What's that supposed ta--!" Goku shouted, only to be interrupted by screams followed quickly by the sound of destruction. The group turned to see something gigantic rising up above the houses.

"Kyaaaaah!"

"A MONSTER! RUN!"

"Huh? What the hell is that?!" demanded Gojyo as the shadow fell over the group.

"Um… anyone have some melted butter and bibs?" asked Roxanna.

Hakkai's eyes shot back to the fortuneteller's booth, but found it to be quite empty.

"Don't tell me that's another of Gyumaoh's assassins!!" Gojyo demanded.

"Gummy who?!" asked Roxanna as she thought 'There goes my birthday eve'.

"I don't know about that," Sanzo said calmly over the commotion of people running quickly in the opposite direction of the monster. "The Sanskrit on its chest signifies a shikigami."

"A shikigami? THAT big?" asked Gojyo incredulously.

Debris rained down from the sky, injuring the innocent townspeople as well as stirring up a lot of dust.

"Ack! This is terrible!" Goku said, avoiding a chunk of roof.

"Damn," swore Gojyo. "I don't know who you're working for…" The redhead conjured up Shakujou, his red eyes angry. "…but you've got a lotta nerve blowing our day!" The curved blade whizzed off its staff counterpart and struck against the hard exoskeleton of the crab. "…Ah, shit!" swore the kappa once more. "I didn't even scratch it! That ain't no ordinary shikigami!"

"What's it made of?!" wondered Sanzo aloud.

"Did you ever think that a CRAB that size would have an equally proportionate exoskeleton hardness?" asked Roxanna. "In other words, you might need the world's largest pair of crackers for that seafood entrée!!"

Hakkai looked up just in time to see the crab break yet another house and send a chunk of wall at the ikkou. "Everyone… WATCH OUT!!!" he shouted at them.

The wall struck the ground with an almighty crash, but fortunately, no one had gotten caught underneath it.

"Aaagh! That was too close!" shouted Goku, his feet not even a foot away from the wall. "I thought I was gonna die!"

Roxanna had gotten a taste of dirt herself for a certain monk had decided she was close enough to fling away.

Gojyo decided at that point to use a vulgar joke. "Heh, heh," he laughed as he flipped the bird. "Whatever it is, it's big and hard and purple… but then, that wouldn't remind you of anything, would it priesty?"

Sanzo looked at the kappa with a well-concealed sweatdrop. "How can you squeeze in vulgar jokes at a time like this?" he deadpanned.

"Sanzo, try the Maten Sutra," suggested Hakkai in a moment (of near constant) brilliance.

"I suppose I have to," sighed the priest. He glanced over at the monkey. "Goku! Go distract it."

"On it!" Goku said as he conjured Nyoi-Bo, his grin wide and his voice practically vibrating from laughter. "Come and get some, alien crab!" he said as he rushed the shikigami.

He took a swipe at the crab with his staff but once he had completed his task, he froze at the sound of a mewl.

There, at his feet, was a cat rubbing against his legs.

"Goku, look out!" cried out a panicked Hakkai and Roxanna in unison, both horrified that Goku had stopped.

Even as they shouted their warning, another person had come into play.

A girl leapt off of a nearby roof and managed to slug the gigantic crustacean. The monster fell to the ground with an equally gigantic crash.

"Huh?" murmured the surprised Goku.

Sanzo froze, his sutra swirling in the air around him, going back to its dormant form.

"Uh… what the hell was that?" was Gojyo's rather intelligent question.

There was a soft jingle of bells as the girl landed on the ground. She knelt before the cat and lifted the feline up to nuzzle it. "Kitty better be more careful next time," she said happily. "Nya ha ha! That tickles, meowsie!"

The girl stood shorter than Goku, but she was fully developed otherwise. Her hair was an orangey color and her skin was a dark bronze. On her right cheek were two stripes, while the left was bare of markings. Her clothes were… odd. She wore pants, but one leg was ripped off while the other was almost bell-like in shape and the waist came up really high and was belted, like she was too small for them. She wore heavy combat boots. Her top was of Chinese style, though it had no sleeves and her jacked hung off her arms and was pushed off her shoulders. Her hands had gloves, similar to Sanzo's but were much shorter and light colored.

To put it simply, she was adorable.

But none of them could overlook the fact that her ears, eyes, nails, and those marks on her cheek made her not human at all… She was youkai.

"A little girl?!" Gojyo said in a disbelieving tone.

"She wrecked that crab like it was nothing," observed Roxanna.

The girl let the cat down and turned slightly to see the five standing there. She spun around fully with a triumphant look on her face. "Ah-ha!" she cried out. "The Sanzo gang! THERE you are!"

To say it quite simply, it was summed up in one little utterance.

"HUH?"

"My name is Lirin! I came to beat you up for Kougaiji onii-chan!" she chirped happily, her hands on her hips.

"'Onii-chan'? Oh, boy," Hakkai said with a sweatdrop. Gojyo, Goku, Sanzo, and Hakkai all wore identical faces of outright disbelief, though Hakkai still wore a smile and Goku was more visibly freaked.

"YOU'RE KOUGAIJI'S LITTLE SISTER?!" demanded the chimp.

"Time to die! Nya ha!" laughed the girl.

Roxanna just stood there, confusion on her face. "Um… what's going on?" asked the Latino-Caucasian.

Lirin looked at her, confusion also on hers. "Who are you?"

"Roxanna," said the older girl, stepping forward with an outstretched hand in greeting, much to the guys' protests. Lirin also stepped forward and the two shook hands. "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too!" chirped the girl, obviously forgetting her 'main objective'. "Did they kidnap you?" she asked, pointing at the group behind Roxanna.

"Nah… they're just being nice people and letting me come with them…" she said as she glanced over her shoulder. "Or they could still be following that creepy lady's orders," the Latino-Caucasian continued. She shrugged.

"So you're an enemy?" asked Lirin.

"Only if you decide so," Roxanna told her. "Personally, I don't like having enemies… they like doing mean things to me for some reason," she said wryly.

"So, Ana-nee-chan? Will you be my friend?" Lirin asked happily. Roxanna grinned.

"Absolutely!"

"Yay!" cheered Lirin as she threw herself at the older girl and gave her a huge hug. Roxanna stood so far above her, the little youkai's feet were completely off the ground.

"We get a visit from Kougaiji's kid sister and Ana-chan makes friends with her?" asked Gojyo. "What's wrong with this picture?"

Soon the two girls released one another and Lirin was back on the ground. She looked at the ikkou and her expression became serious once again. She took and pushed Roxanna (who had a confused expression on her face) over to the sidelines and marched back over to center stage once more.

"Without further ado…!" Lirin said, looking important. "Bring it on however you want!" she shouted, pointing at the ikkou.

"Erhm… Lirin?" Lirin looked over at Roxanna.

"Call Lirin Rin-chan!" the tiny thing said.

"Um, yeah, Rin-chan… why are you doing this?"

"To make onii-chan proud!"

"Um… then, you do know how strong they are, right?"

"Yep! But Lirin's stronger!"

"And why am I over here?"

"Because Lirin doesn't want Ana-nee-chan to get hurt!"

"But they're my friends."

Lirin paused. "You don't wanna be my friend?" she asked, her eyes wide as she looked at Roxanna. The pair of them ignored the murmured talk amongst the ikkou.

"I wanna be your friend, Rin-chan!" Roxanna said, walking over and bending over just enough to look the shorter girl in the eyes. "But that would mean you gotta be nice to my friends too, yeah? You don't have to be nicey-nice… but…" Roxanna thought about it for a second. "Not rude would be good enough, I suppose." Lirin lit right back up and the two hugged.

"That's enough!" a voice said, echoing over the mostly empty plaza. Roxanna looked up as did all the others and saw three individuals standing on the roof. Two men and one woman. The apparent leader looked a lot like Lirin, but obviously older and male. Instead of two stripes on the right side of his face, though, he had three stripes on the left side.

The other man had a shoulder guard on the right shoulder and a pair of pants that sorta resembled Gojyo's. The woman was in a rather risqué outfit and had long purple hair.

All three were youkai.

"So we meet again, Sanzo-ikkou," the leader said with authority. "I'm here for my sister. Hand her over."

"Kougaiji!" exclaimed Goku as he jabbed a finger in Lirin's direction, since the group had sorta formed up around her and Roxanna… for Roxanna's protection. "Look you!" said the enraged monkey. "Don't talk to us like we're kidnappers! She came to US! She did!"

"Sister, huh? You did a pretty shitty job of raising the brat," called up Gojyo.

"She's like a female Goku—it's quite remarkable!" Hakkai said, putting his hands to his smiling mouth to make the sound go further. "Though she doesn't seem to like us much."

Sanzo remained silent as he stood next to Roxanna, who was still holding Lirin. Roxanna looked at the priest. "I'm guessing her cavalry has arrived," she said to the houshi. Sanzo grunted. Roxanna barely heard the muscle head (according to appearances) on the roof said with a laugh, "Hard to argue with that."

"Hiya, onii-chan!" chirped Lirin from her place in Roxanna's arms.

"Don't 'hiya' me, moron!" shouted Kougaiji in irritation. He glared at the lone female of the ikkou. "Release my sister!"

"Fine," grouched Roxanna. "Don't get your fuckin' tidy-whiteys in a bunch, prince charming." She let Lirin go as Goku called up to Kougaiji:

"Hey! Kougaiji! You're not ditchin' us again, are you? I've been itchin' to pay you back for the last time!"

"Hn," responded Kougaiji. "As you wish. If after loosing to me four-on-one you think you can win four-on-four."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Roxanna deadpanned.

"Yay!" cheered Lirin as she spun around. "Time to fightie!" She attacked Sanzo but the priest blocked.

"The attention span of a knat…" sighed Roxanna.

"…Leave me the fuck alone, brat," snarled the Sanzo as he took a shot at the girl's gut and connected. Immediately, Lirin doubled over, crying out that she was going to die. Sanzo snorted. "Please," he scoffed. "Cut the crap, kid. You're a shitty actress."

Lirin looked up and grinned. "…Ya caught me."

The female youkai touched down on the ground near Hakkai. The man turned and looked at her with some small amount of surprise. "It's you…" he murmured.

Both bowed to one another a moment later. "I'm sorry for being so impolite the other day," apologized the tangerine eyed woman.

"Oh, no. Not at all," replied Hakkai, his grin in place as he rubbed the back of his head.

The pair straightened and the woman smiled. "May I ask to fight with you again, Cho Hakkai-dono? My head is now clear. I will live only to serve my one true master."

Hakkai's smile had just a hint of sadness not easily discernable by the inexperienced eye. "How very dedicated," he murmured.

Gojyo's chain sang through the air only to get tangled on the last youkai's forearm. "So I've got the old man," jeered Gojyo.

"Heh. Sha Gojyo," said the youkai. "Right?"

"What?" murmured Gojyo, coming up short.

"I didn't want to believe it 'til I saw you… but there you are," the youkai said, looking the kappa head on. "Hey," he said confidently.

Gojyo froze and his cigarette fell from his lips to hit the ground with a couple of embers flying loose. "You've gotta be shitting me," he murmured as he stared in shock. "You're here. Why… why're you here?!" he demanded.

"Oh, by the way," the youkai said as he conjured up a sword. "I'm a swordsman of Kougaiji's. The name's Dokugakuji." With one quick jerk, he broke through Shakujou's chain. "Man. Life's pretty crazy, huh?" He looked at Gojyo. "But I chose this path, and I can't give it up now. Sorry, bro." He raised his sword in a salute to his brother.

"Hgck," gulped the kappa hanyou, a grin forming on his face before he laughed outright. "I hear ya," he said, slinging the broken Shakujou over his shoulder. "I'm sticking by my choice, too."

Roxanna stood there, watching the various battles around her in a rather bemused manner. "And who do I get left with?" she said as she plopped down on a piece of rubble. "Nuthin' but the crab in need of a really big pot."

The Latino-Caucasian watched them all fight. She gave an almighty sigh. "Home would be so much better right now…"

Some distance away from her, Kougaiji and Goku were going at it.

"Over here, Kougaiji!" called Goku.

"Ugh," snorted Kougaiji. "Parlor tricks." He began to gather his energy for an attack against the imp of a monkey. A second later, he released that energy at Goku, but the monkey dodged faster than Kougaiji could track.

Instead of being caught by the blast, like Kougaiji had expected, Goku had resituated himself above and to the right of the prince. Kou's eyes widened in shock when he realized where Goku was, and he was sent reeling when Goku kneed him in the chin.

Before Kougaiji could even think of recovering, Goku was again on top of him (A/N: Ooh, kinky image… XD). "Wha--?!" gasped Kougaiji just before Goku sent a fist straight into his abdomen… before kneeing him in the face.

Kougaiji skid backwards and caught himself before he fell over, but unfortunately for him, Goku was having too much fun. The imp again slugged Kougaiji and sent him flying backwards. The prince lifted himself up again, swearing "Damn you! You have nothing to protect!" Kougaiji stood. "Tell me something. Who are you fighting for? What's driving you to get so powerful?" he demanded.

Goku summoned Nyoi-Bo and came after Kougaiji once more. "I don't know what you're talking about. This—This is all for ME!" Goku's swing of his staff connected with Kougaiji and sent the man flying backwards.

As he crashed into the ground, both Yaone and Doku cried out in shock. "…Kou!" "Kougaiji-sama!" They rushed forward to help as Kougaiji stood once more, but they were stopped by his hand.

"My lord—" Yaone began to protest.

"Stay back!" ordered the prince. "He's fighting me," he continued as he looked at Goku. He wiped the blood off of his chin. "Six hits, right?" mused Kougaiji. "You've gotten me six times." Goku just looked on, wondering slightly where this little speech of Kougaiji's was going. "I'll pay you back double." The Ox Prince was once more ready to fight.

"_Now_ you're getting it!" smirked Goku as he lifted Nyoi-bo into a position to fight as well.

Outside their realms of thought the other three males of the Sanzo-ikkou and the rest of Kougaiji's party clashed. The lone leftover female stood by in her position upon the rubble of the 'alien crab'.

"Just don't cry when I break you, Monkey!" shouted Kougaiji as the two main competitors clashed once again.

"Haha!" laughed Goku as he came forward. "_You're_ gonna be the one cryin'!"

Away from all of them the strange old fortune telling man chuckled darkly as he reached up to his ear. "Cho Gonou," he whispered as he literally yanked his earring out of his earlobe, letting loose crimson blood. As it dropped to the ground with a tiny piece of flesh still attached, he licked the blood off of his now claws and sneered out, "From Chin Yisou with love."

Back at the 'party', Roxanna froze as she felt the rubble beneath her start to move with a quiet but audible rumble. She leapt up and started moving away from it and, coincidentally, closer to the fight. Sanzo had apparently heard the noise as well for he froze slightly and turned to see what was causing the commotion. "Goku!" he cried out, having noted that Roxanna was already aware of the situation and moving out of the way. The monkey turned slightly, wondering what was going on.

Before Roxanna could get too far, the rubble burst upwards and everyone's attention was now on what had risen from it. The crab… As the rubble came down, it missed most everyone, but Roxanna got pegged with a baseball-sized rock square in the shoulder and yelped out in pain as she stumbled forward and was caught by the monk who, at the time, had been the closest.

"Behind you!" shouted Sanzo, trying to warn Goku.

Goku turned and uttered a simple "huh?"

All of this happened in just under three seconds.

"That thing's—" Goku shouted out in horror as Kougaiji too turned in shock. A crab leg shot forth and tagged the both of them, sending them flying and landing on the ground a meter or so away. "Gaha!" cried out Goku as Kou grunted "Gggh!" when they both landed roughly.

"Goku!" cried out Hakkai as Yaone screamed out, "My Lord, no!"

Again the crab moved to strike again and Gojyo ran forward, crying out, "I got it!" A second later, a crab leg was locked against Shakujou, blocking it from hurting Goku and Kougaiji.

"Gojyo," mumbled Goku right before he coughed.

"Move it, kid!" Gojyo said as he struggled against the pressure. "I can't hold this for long." A second later, Dokugakuji appeared out of seeming nowhere and cut off the leg much to Gojyo's relief. As it landed on the ground, the shikigami's leg vanished in a whirl of smoke. "Uh… thanks. I guess I owe you one," Gojyo said as he rubbed at his hand. "Damn, that hurt," he mumbled.

"Forget it," grinned his elder brother. "So is this a truce?"

Away from that pair, Lirin suddenly appeared on Sanzo's shoulders as Roxanna hung close with a hand gripped to her shoulder. "What? Boo!" whined Lirin. "I already beat that thing."

"Get off," snarled Sanzo, an angry tick in the corner of his eye. "Death is forthcoming." He perhaps didn't realize it, but he was keeping his hand slightly around Roxanna's shoulder as if to protect her.

As the crab wrecked havoc on the town, Yaone said, "A shikigami? But it's so _big_!" Her voice was incredulous.

"So it's _not_ yours," surmised Hakkai from a little ways behind her. "We thought as much."

"That still doesn't explain who the fortune teller is," Sanzo said, clearly irritated not only with Lirin's presence but the shikigami's destruction of the buildings also. "What does he want from us?" Roxanna tried to twist away from the Sanzo's protective hand, but he caught her again and kept her close. She shot him an annoyed look as if to say 'I'm not a weakling.'

Hakkai remained silent on this point but was brought out of his brooding thoughts when Gojyo let out a shout as he collided with the ground rather roughly. "Gojyo!" shouted the emerald-eyed youkai even as the tangerine-eyed Yaone shouted "Dokugaku!"

"Screw _this_!" spat Gojyo as he rubbed at his head.

"We're not doing so well," said a deeply upset Doku.

"Cutting off a few legs is useless. We destroy it all at once or not at all," Sanzo said with determination.

"Plunge him in really cold water. It'll make all his legs pop off and kill him relatively fast," Roxanna said as if it were the sanest idea in the world even as she jerked herself free of the monk's hand. Afore mentioned monk and the imp on his shoulders both looked at her if she were insane. "Whaaat?" she asked, drawing out the 'a' sound, her face scrunching into a more innocent expression. "Snow crabbers face this problem all the time during hunting season! Would you have preferred if I said we take it to Red Lobster and have him boiled up and served for three thousand?"

"Kougaiji-sama – Look out!" screamed out Yaone just before she threw herself forward and blocked the large piece of rubble that had nearly crushed her prince with a scream of pain.

"Ya…" began Kougaiji but his exclamation was cut short by Hakkai's shout of "Yaone-san!" "Dammit!" swore the Ox Prince. He stood up and looked at Hakkai. "Watch her for me." Hakkai nodded and moved towards the unconscious woman.

Kou, on the other hand, stepped over to his major adversary. "Goku," he said. "Can you keep that thing from moving?" The seriousness in his voice caused the Monkey King to pay attention.

"Huh?" But apparently he didn't understand what Kougaiji was going to do.

"I can do a summoning," explained the youkai, "with time. I don't know how else to kill it." It seemed that this prince was not above asking for help even if he didn't want it. "I only need a few seconds. Keep it still and it'll be dead in a hit. Got that?" As he looked at the golden-eyed teen, he finished with one final statement. "Just don't get in the way."

"…Sure," agreed Goku, a grin on his face. He turned and began to run off, but not without turning back and giving one last jibe at the prince. "Just don't miss, 'kay?" he said with a broad grin. Apparently this was just enough to piss of the youkai prince.

"Shaddup and go!" shouted the irate man.

Sanzo watched the scene and decided to comment after a long moment. "Do they not know they're enemies?" asked the houshi.

Gojyo came up beside him and gave his answer. "And what about you two?" The kappa gave a sly grin.

"Shut up and die."

"That's not a very Buddhist thing to say," chirped Roxanna.

"Shut it, you!" snarled the priest as he popped her upside the head, which elicited a yelp.

"Lirin wants ta help, too!" complained the tiny girl, throwing herself forward slightly too much to Sanzo's increased annoyance.

"You can start by _getting off me_," snarled the irate houshi.

"Nah," mused Gojyo. "They'll be fine. I think your bro's got it covered." Some distance away, Kougaiji was chanting something as Goku started fighting the skyscraper-sized shikigami.

The shortest member of the group leapt up and over the crab and cried out "Nyoi-bo!" At this verbal command, the staff lengthened… and pierced the monster through the gut. The imp turned and looked over his shoulder towards the Ox Prince crying out his name.

Kougaiji had just finished chanting and yelled out, "Out of the way, Goku!" Goku complied very quickly and in that moment, the last word of the chant was said. "_ENGOKUKI_"

A monster appeared… a Cyclops whose single eye did not reside under the flap of skin on his forehead but within his mouth. A great rush of energy was heard and…

…All was now quiet.

Coughing, Goku stood still within the dust cloud, Nyoi-bo in his grasp. "Is he dead?" asked the brunette before hacking.

"Looks like it," replied Gojyo.

Roxanna, it seemed, had finally managed to get away from Sanzo in the commotion, for she stood about a meter from him. She hacked and coughed from the dust and had her eyes closed. When she opened them once more, her group was standing opposite of Kougaiji's group.

"So _now_ what, Kougaiji?" asked Sanzo.

"That's it for today. There was too much interference," replied the prince. "…But I _am_ sorry." That perked the priest's interest slightly. "I started to doubt the path I'd chosen. It's rude to challenge someone when you're not sure what they believe. But that's over. My goal is too important to be measured in terms of good and evil." He turned his back upon the group. "Next time I'll risk everything… and you'll be on the floor." He turned back slightly to look over his left shoulder. "I'll win for myself," he said with a smirk.

Goku just smirked right back right before breaking out into a grin. "Hey… you said you'd pay me double! You still owe me!"

"Put it on my tab. You'll get your due." As he turned away, Lirin went over to Roxanna, giving her a big hug.

"Take care, Ana-nee-chan!" chirruped the tiny youkai as she hung from Roxanna's neck… and the teenager was pulled over down slightly by the smaller girl's weight.

"You take care, too, Rin-chan," laughed Roxanna, hugging her back. The girl let go and ran over to jump on her brother, eliciting a 'ug' from him.

"Bye-bye" said Lirin. She looked back at the gang. "Next time we'll play more, yeah?"

"Sure! I'm looking forward to it," replied Roxanna with a wave even as Sanzo flipped the girl off and snarled out, "Don't get any ideas, damn brat! And never come back!"

"I wanna present next time," grinned Gojyo to his elder brother.

The older full-youkai grinned right back and said, "So long as you make the tea."

"Do see to those wounds," Hakkai the ever polite said to Yaone.

"I will," replied violet-haired youkai. "And all of you take care."

At last the group warped away and Goku let out a bark of laughter. "What a group to have as enemies," Gojyo said, lighting up one of his Hi-Lites. Hakkai allowed Jiipu to light upon his shoulder and began to pet him.

"They're only pawns… if I had to guess," mused Sanzo, his face very serious. "The chaos in the world is due to whatever idiot's planning the revival. That's who's behind Kougaiji. And that's who we have to get at."

Roxanna looked him over. "This fight is a lot more confusing than I had ever thought it would be," said the Latino-Caucasian. "It seemed so much simpler when I was just rea—" she cut herself off, embarrassed. Sanzo looked her over, feeling he needed to talk to her soon, before he continued speaking.

"Anyway, it's time to skip town."

"_Hell_ yeah," agreed Gojyo as they started walking off.

Something, however, caught Hakkai's eye and he went to go pick it up. In his hands was what appeared to be a lump of clay with a yin yang symbol on it. He mused over the form for a moment before realizing… "There's something inside," he murmured to Jiipu as the form began to crumble. And he took a deep breath as his eyes widened in shock. There, in the leftover sand of the golem, was a mahjong tile. And the tile read 'sin'.

Hakkai dropped to the ground on his knees, a sudden bout of nausea hitting him hard. At the sudden sound, everyone turned back in shock as he vomited the little bit of water he had drank earlier into his hand.

"Hakkai?" asked Roxanna, worried, stepping forward a little. Goku was quick to echo.

"I'm… all right," the green-eyed youkai said finally as he gasped for air. "It's nothing, really." But his eyes told a different story though the others couldn't see them while they were downcast. They spoke of fear…

* * *

The Dark is Rising is one of five books in a series called "The Dark is Rising" by Susan Cooper. It lights upon a group of people called 'Old Ones' and the various talismans that one young 'Old One' needs to gather.

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**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

Volume 3: Chapter 15: Drop a Bomb

Volume 3: Chapter 16: Confront

Volume 3: Chapter 17: Overlap Each Other

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Please review. Helpful commentary is always kind. 


	7. VI: Frankenstein I

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Saiyuki. I own Ana. Let's keep it simple, shall we?

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**Reviews:** Normally, I would write out responses to the reviews. And I did. But my browser crashed and now I have to settle for saying thank you to all the names because I don't feel like typing it all out again. Do not think you are unloved. I love you guys very much. And now that I'm done being a hippie, we can get to the names. 

Thanks to **DayDreamer9**, **Chick-A-Doom**, **Fcs**,and newcomers **Hellscreamer89**, **Lady Lotus Moon**, & **Spellcaster Hikaru**. I look forward to all the reviews you'll give me next round if you don't mind.

Also, about hits, I have **746** hits total, as of July 14, 2007, at ten o'clock. **252** for the prologue, **109** for the first chapter, **97** for the second, **110** for the third, **124** for the fourth, and **54** for the fifth.

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**Chapter VI: Frankenstein I**

Roxanna stretched the next morning, walking around happily. She was eighteen today, on this lovely day! Unfortunately, the memories of yesterday were a little too haunting to leave her alone. And the fact that Hakkai seemed even happier after his 'sudden illness' was creeping her out. Shame she couldn't just forget all of it.

She let out a hefty sigh and said to the sky, "Oh, well."

"Well, what?" asked a stern voice from behind her. She jumped, and turned, startled that she had been snuck up on. Fortunately, it was just Sanzo. Roxanna reviewed that thought and gave a mental snort. '_Just Sanzo… __Riiiiight__.'_ He was standing there in his usual authoritive and trust-inspiring way. How he inspired trust, she didn't know.

She grinned broadly… and began to sing just to piss him off. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood… will you be mine? Oh, will you be mine?" she sing-songed as she twirled and gave a bow to him, tucking her right hand behind her back as she held out her left to him. It obviously worked as she watched his eyebrow twitch.

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," snarled the priest.

"No it's not," grinned Roxanna as she straightened herself. "I know a ton of annoying songs. All of them revolving around children's music. Wanna hear?"

Sanzo ignored the comment and got right down to business. "What were you talking about yesterday?"

"Eh?" asked Roxanna, scratching her head. "Which part?" Sanzo just glared at her. Roxanna's mind began to churn and she realized what he was trying to reference. "Oh… It's complicated."

"The same kind of complicated that turned you into a pile of blankets last night?" sneered Sanzo. The Caucasian-Latina blushed darkly. Last night, for some reason, every single blanket decided that they were her best friends… and subsequently attached themselves to her, turning her into a mini-mountain. Needless to say, everyone was certainly not pleased when they woke up cold and Roxanna woke up smothered.

She shrugged. "I dunno…" Her eyes darkened slightly. "I guess I could tell you because… Hakkai and Gojyo both know… sort of…" She looked at Sanzo square in the eye. "I'm from another dimension. How do I know this?" The lone female of the Sanzo-ikkou bit her lip and, fortunately, the houshi before her remained silent. "Well… You see. My brother is really into anime… and in particular a series called 'Saiyuki'…" She couldn't meet his eyes anymore as she scuffled her toe on the ground, her eyes focusing on the patterns. "'Saiyuki' concerned a group of four travelers headed west to stop the resurrection of a powerful demon… I hadn't gotten far into the series when I was dumped here. Only the second volume… The four main characters were, as follows: a blonde haired monk with a gun; a bottomless pit of a teenager; a perverted half-demon; and a man who smiled way too much and threw energy blasts."

Sanzo absorbed this information with a little difficulty. It didn't take too much thought to guess who she was referencing. "And?" he asked after a long pause.

"I think I found myself in that series… talking to those people," Roxanna said hesitantly, not removing her eyes from the ground. When the statement was met with silence, she continued slowly. "This wasn't exactly what I had in mind for fiction becoming reality. Had I had the choice… I'd've picked 'Harry Potter' or some such. You don't have to believe me. I won't ask you to. Okay?"

The blonde monk grunted in reply and turned to walk off. The things he had just learned were disturbing at best… Their world? A story? Fiction for the bored? That was too much to wrap his mind around. But it did make a lot of sense. To be dropped through time and space into something that was once considered fictional… Sanzo briefly wondered exactly what it would be like. Naturally, he didn't linger on the thought too long. If the girl was to come along, then so be it. He wasn't going to try and puzzle out her problems.

Back with Roxanna, she gazed sadly after Sanzo… She had hoped to get a better response from him than a grunt. The man certainly seemed like he knew what it was like to be stuck in a position not really wanted. He was on this journey after all. The coffee-brown-eyed girl sighed and stretched again. Today was her birthday… but it wasn't at all a happy one. Back home she'd've been able to vote and all. Here… she was on a journey to save all of human kind. How ironic life was, throwing curve balls like this when Fate and Destiny got tired of the same old same old. Given the choice, she'd rather be back home eating some popcorn and watching Orlando Bloom's ass in PotC… or Johnny's ass. She wasn't at all picky.

"If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, then we'd see the day… that nobody died. And I'm singin' a, amen I, amen I, amen I – I am alive," sang Roxanna sadly.

She started practicing with her lightning again. The 'Charged Palms' attack was all well and good, but she probably had to do something about that static cling. After all, she wouldn't win a battle of any form if she were trying to kick off the blankets that were attacking her at the moment.

Of course, the moment someone's hand landed gently on her shoulder, they got a small shock as she heard the audible pop of an electrical discharge. She spun slightly to see Goku standing there with a startled look on his face.

"What was that?!" asked the chimp.

"Uh… my electricity," said Roxanna.

"It was a lot stronger than that, Ana-chan!" But Goku just shook it off and grinned. "Anyway, Happy Birthday!" He hugged her, not receiving any more electrical shocks now that she had retracted her energy from the surface.

"Go-ku, a-ir!" gasped Roxanna as she tried to draw a breath into her oxygen-lacking lungs. Goku heard her and let her go immediately, apologizing profusely. "S'ok," gasped the now adult. "Let's get to the others. I'm sure Sanzo's pissed by now," she said once she had recovered her breath.

"Good idea," agreed Goku as the pair began to walk back to camp. "'Sides, Hakkai got you a gift!" A sudden 'oops' came from his lips.

"You weren't supposed to tell me, were you?" Roxanna asked dryly. Goku shook his head sheepishly. "I'll pretend to be shocked," she said as she sighed in mock defeat.

"Thanks, Ana-chan," Goku said with a grin. "I don't want Hakkai to be mad at me. He even fixed up a really nice meal to celebrate an' everything!"

Roxanna looked at him, surprised. "Why did he go and do all this? You guys haven't even known me all that long."

"We're your friends!" said the overly cheerful monkey. "'Sides, you've been with us for five days! That's gotta count for something!"

Roxanna knew that still wasn't long enough to be friendly with someone to get them a gift and a celebratory meal… but she wasn't going to argue with it. It was kinda nice to be getting something for her birthday when she was so far from home. It made things a little more… normal.

When they got back to camp, they found Gojyo sitting and smoking while watching Hakkai do something near the fire. The green-eyed man seemed to be overly cheerful… a front in which Roxanna was slowly beginning to perceive as upset. Upset at what, she certainly didn't know for he kept his worries well hidden. Sanzo was also smoking and reading a newspaper. From what Roxanna could perceive, the oh-so holy one didn't really lift a finger to help Hakkai out with anything. Gojyo could at least be bullied into it and Goku enjoyed helping despite the fact he complained. Roxanna thought that was very unfair, considering that she helped too… when blankets didn't seem to want to gravitate to her, that is.

Both she and Goku sat down next to the fire that had something being cooked over it. Whatever it was, it smelled like heaven to the hungry girl… no, woman. Hakkai noticed the expression on her face and laughed lightly. "I suppose you're hungry, Rox-anna-dono?" asked the cook as he adjusted his monocle. Roxanna never figured out where he had gotten the object, seeing as it was so out of date back home.

"Yep! I think Goku is, too!" chirped the girl. Indeed, Goku looked like he didn't want to wait for it to finish cooking before he helped himself.

"Goku's always hungry," groused Gojyo after plucking the cigarette from his lips. "You'd better not let him get at your bowl!" he said, deliberately poking fun at Goku. "Might never get to eat!"

"Shaddup, stupid ero-kappa!" snarled out Goku, snapping out of his daze.

"Now, now," chided Hakkai, trying to diffuse the argument before it became monstrously loud. "Let's have a nice little party."

"Why the hell are you doing this anyway?" asked Sanzo, his eyes not leaving his paper.

"Because she's eighteen!" Goku said as if that made the most sense in the world. "She should have a party!"

Roxanna just blushed and looked down. "You guys really don't have to do this," she mumbled loud enough for them to hear.

"In other words," groused Sanzo, "You are encouraging us to do so. So sit down and shut up." Roxanna stared at him, trying to work her way through the 'logic' Sanzo had given her, even as Hakkai finished the food and ladled some into a tin bowl for Roxanna.

"Forgive us for not having candles or cake," apologized Hakkai.

"S'ok," Roxanna said as she inhaled the scent of Hakkai's soup. "M'not big on sweets and my last birthday just included a bowl of spaghetti and a big fat mushroom on a bed of parmesan for decoration. One of the best birthdays I'd ever had." She took another whiff. "I'd say this is just as good."

Hakkai blinked in surprise and gave a smaller, less upset smile to her. "I'm glad to hear that, Rox-anna-dono." He continued serving up bowls and handing them to the others before they all settled down to eat… or rather, Goku was finished with his bowl and the others were eating at a more sedate pace. Hakkai happily served him another as Gojyo complained some about Goku 'hogging it all'. Sanzo silenced them both with his 'paper fan of doom'.

Roxanna found herself laughing into her food. These four… they were funny, though Sanzo would forever deny it. She was slightly startled when a weight became known on her shoulder and the soft white snout of Hakuryuu was dipping its nose into her bowl.

She mock glared at him. "What made you think you could have some of my food?" she asked the little dragon that she so adored. It had become more apparent as of late that Jiipu was as taken to her as she was to him. The tiny dragon, for the most part, rode on Hakkai's shoulder, but every now and then he'd get on Roxanna's shoulder instead. The Latina-Caucasian might have been very down-to-earth, but she couldn't deny the wonder she felt whenever she saw the tiny beast.

Hakkai, however, mistook Roxanna's words for actual anger. "Jiipu, come here and leave her alone," he said, worried that she was upset. Hakuryuu just looked up at him as he licked the broth off of his face and cheeped before going back to Roxanna's food. She moved it away, ate the last few bites (earning a mournful 'kyuu'), and got some more. When she held it up within the range of the little dragon's mouth, Hakkai knew that she had only been playing.

Sanzo just watched as the foreign girl and the dragon both ate. She was as annoying as hell, but he knew that soon enough she'd be useful… once she figured out how to use that damn power of hers. What worried him was the fact that there were no youkai attacks as of late. His instinct said that something was up… or rather… Something was scaring them away. It made him uneasy.

He was brought out of his thoughts, yet again, by the mischievous duo better known as Sha Gojyo and Son Goku.

And they were fighting…

Again…

"Shut the hell up!" snarled the priest as he trained his gun on them. "Or else you'll both be having a lead desert!" Both 'eep'ed and fell silent. Of course, that was only for the time being.

Once the meal was over, Hakkai decided it was time to give her her gift.

"I wasn't too sure if it would fit," he said as she opened the canvas bag it was in. "But I thought it would be nice for you to have some different clothing. No one, especially a lady like yourself, particularly enjoys wearing the same clothes over and over or borrowing clothing whenever in need of it."

Roxanna pulled out of her bag some clothing as he said this. The first thing she pulled out was a shirt. The shirt was cut in a short-sleeved mandarin style and was made of a heavier-weight cotton fabric. The color was turquoise and it had aqua trim. Her eyes widened as she got a good look at it. "Wow," was all she could say. This new piece of clothing made her a bit more eager to check out the rest of the clothes. There was another shirt of a similar grade of cotton fabric, but this time it was a sleeveless turtleneck shirt a shade darker than the daylight sky. There were also two pairs of pants. One pair was a sensible pair of khaki pants and the other pair was a pair of black jeans. After that, Roxanna found an extra pair of shoes. This time, they were tough looking boots complete with a steel toe.

'Well, that explains why he was looking at my shoes,' thought the eighteen-year-old. She had caught him messing with her sneakers one early morning and had vanished for most of the day afterwards. Apparently, he was buying her some things to wear.

Roxanna refused to pull out the rest. Apparently, Hakkai, the ever-motherly one, decided that underwear was needed too. She could only guess how _that_ went down at whatever shop he went to. And he had gotten her a simple sports bra… in a sensible… black… color.

Hakkai, from the slight tint on his cheeks, knew exactly what _she_ was blushing about and coughed slightly. "Yes, well. That bag is for you as well. I got it exactly for that purpose since we all have our own totes." Roxanna hastily put the clothes back (neatly) and looked at the bag properly. It was similar to the totes she used when she went to school… sort of a saddlebag in a way and was made of heavy-duty canvas of the absolutely boring khaki variety. Good, sturdy, and would withstand several beatings and still keep going.

"This is great," she said finally, truly glad. "At least I don't have to worry about wearing dirty clothes!" Impulse gripped her and she put the bag down and went over to Hakkai and gave him a grateful hug. He was a little surprised by the sudden contact and his blush deepened to a more noticeable level as Jiipu cheeped at the sudden movements.

"Ah, you're welcome, Rox-anna-dono," Hakkai said with an awkward pat to her back. She released him and grinned at the rest.

"This is one of my best birthdays!" the Latina-Caucasian said.

Sanzo grunted at the happy-happy, joy-joy feelings running through the camp. He lit up a cigarette as if to say 'who gives a fuck?'

Goku jumped Roxanna, giving her a hug as well. "Glad you like it, Ana-chan!" he laughed as he hugged her close, getting her to laugh at the silliness.

Gojyo looked like he wanted to hug her too (and do a little more than that), but Sanzo's dark look in his direction stopped him fairly quick. However, that didn't stop Roxanna from hugging him anyway. She abstained on hugging Sanzo for he looked so damn surly. Plus, hugging him would probably bring death knocking. The rest of the day passed cheerfully as did the next… however…

They were all piled in Jiipu. Hakkai and Sanzo were in the front seats while Goku laid half on his side against the back of the seat as he snored and drooled. Gojyo sat with his head propped on his hand. Roxanna was slumped against Gojyo, her mouth turned down slightly in a frown.

Unbeknownst to the two youngest in their group, Hakkai awoke with a sudden gasp and shifted restlessly in his seat before Sanzo looked at him.

"Everything all right?" he asked. Hakkai gave him a slightly surprised look before murmuring 'Sanzo…'

"I'm fine," assured Hakkai, his mask sliding into place. "Just a bit uncomfortable I suppose. Heh. I think I'll go for a walk."

"As long as you're careful," Sanzo said even though there was no real need to warn the youkai slayer.

"Of course."

And in the back, a single red eye slid open even as Hakkai vanished into the night. The second opened as Gojyo lifted his head to stare after his best friend. Sanzo gave him a look of 'be quiet' even as the kappa pushed Ana-chan over onto the chimp. She moaned slightly in her sleep before she sighed and was pushed into REM sleep.

He slid out of the Jeep and went after Hakkai, Sanzo watching as he went. The priest grunted to himself and lit up a fag. The tip glowed in the night.

Gojyo soon found Hakkai examining his hands. The man seemed so deep in thought that Gojyo was able to walk up behind him with near little effort. "**Damn**, your lifeline's tiny," he said.

Hakkai let out a small gasp as he spun to stare at the kappa. "Wha? Gojyo, please don't surprise me," said the startled youkai. Gojyo just popped a cig between his lips.

"Right back at ya. I never thought I could sneak up on you so easy," he said as he began rummaging for his lighter.

"Which one is the lifeline?" queried Hakkai, looking at his hands. Gojyo pointed at the appropriate crease in his hand.

"Right here. See?" he said.

"Oh," Hakkai murmured in sudden revelation along with sudden embarrassment for having not known it. "It _is_ short."

"Mine goes all the way down to my wrist," Gojyo said, showing Hakkai. He crouched down so he could be more comfortable. "Man, I'm like a cockroach," he mused to himself. Hakkai caught the comment and gave a small laugh as he settled back on a nearby tree.

"Your power to procreate seems strong as well," he teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Gojyo as he lit up. A moment of silence passed between the two as the moon shone down.

"…Did I wake you?" asked Hakkai, worried that he had done such a thing.

"Nn… Sorta. Ana-chan was keepin' me a bit warm… And I just can't pass up an opportunity to see Hakkai depressed." Hakkai stared out into the night, processing those words as Gojyo looked at him. Smoke drifted away into the night from the lit cigarette in the hanyou's hand.

"…May I ask you something?"

"What?" Gojyo said, slipping his cigarette between his teeth again.

"Three years ago. You know," Hakkai said, trying to bring up the subject without directly broaching it. "Why did you save me?" So much for not directly bringing it up. "If you had left me, I would have died like an animal. Perhaps that was what I deserved."

Gojyo took a long moment, puffing at his cigarette. Hakkai allowed the silence, a faint smile on his face as testament to his mask.

"If you're gonna put it that way," Gojyo said finally in a flat tone, "I'm not gonna answer."

Hakkai laughed as though Gojyo had make a funny joke. "I should have known," he said as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Just… quit thinking about it, Hakkai," Gojyo urged as he straightened. "It'll turn you bald."

Hakkai tittered again. "Oh my. That could be bad," he said. "Mm, hm."

Seeing a supreme opportunity for a joke, Gojyo plowed ahead. "I know, right?" he said before pointing out a spot on his head. "Just look at Sanzo. He hides it, but right around here—"

The joking mood was killed the moment the bushes rustled. A soft clicking sound could be heard. And it steadily became louder as a small figure emerged from the bushes clothed in a Chinese styled child's outfit. The clicking stopped when the doll stilled.

"Huh?" uttered a confused Gojyo. "Is that a… doll? Out here?" He was very confused, as was Hakkai. And it showed on both their faces.

"-Nihao,-" the doll suddenly spoke, startling the two partial-youkai with its strangely hollow voice. "-Nihao! Cho Gonou, the murderer!-"

His pupils contracted at the old name in his undeniable shock as he stared at the tile in the doll's hands. A tile bearing the character for 'grudge'.

"Oi!" said a pissed Gojyo. "Where'd that little freakbot learn your old name?"

But the doll didn't stop at 'cordial' hellos. "-Was your victims' blood warmer than a woman's skin? Or was it fragrant, like an orchid's petals?-" Hakkai maintained a steady silence of horror as he stared at the doll as it continue working its mechanical mouth. "-If you've forgotten, I can help you remember. There is nowhere for you to find peace.-" Each word, it seemed, was expertly crafted to hurt the listener beyond belief. "-You are a sinner. A sinner, Cho Gonou!-"

Gojyo had enough of it. He dropped his cig and smothered it under his boot even as he said, "…Shut your damn hinged yap! Just who in the hell—"

Hakkai interrupted him with chill, calm words. "I know what you're trying to say. But if you really do have business with me, come out and fulfill it yourself." The look on Hakkai's face was one that he didn't wear often. It was one of a cold, determined man that would kill if the situation called for it. He had before, after all.

"-Ha ha!-" laughed the doll in delight for the one pulling his strings was amused. "-That's the face, Cho Gonou! That reveals your **true** soul!-"

Startled beyond belief, Hakkai dropped the look even though his pupils were still contracted.

"Shut the hell up!" snarled an angry Gojyo as he booted the doll across the clearing, the mahjong tile flying free. "We're not taking bullshit from some stinking toy!" snapped out the kappa before turning to his companion. "C'mon, Hakkai. Let's get back to Jeep."

Hakkai, startled by Gojyo's sudden actions and then equally sudden words as well as the words of the doll from before, turned with a still slightly freaked expression. "Huh? Um… yes…" But at that moment, he saw the doll's mouth open. "Gojyo, behind you!" he shouted.

"Wha?" Gojyo turned just a moment too late and was hit square in the chest with a projectile that had been shot from the toy's mouth. Both were stunned by the sudden turn in events. "The…hell?" he said slowly as a hand went up to cover the bullet-sized hole in his chest. Whatever it had been, it was too slow to actually be a bullet, so that was a good thing.

"-Wa ha ha ha ha! For you!-" the doll cried out happily in its mechanical voice. "-Wa ha ha ha!-"

"…You… damn doll!" gasped Gojyo as he swayed too far forward and fell to the ground.

"Gojyo!" Hakkai shouted in shock.

"Hey, Hakkai!" called Goku's voice. "What happened?" Sure enough, when Hakkai turned, there stood Goku, Sanzo, and Roxanna coming through the underbrush into the clearing. They had been woken by all the shouting and had come to investigate.

"Sanzo!" cried out Hakkai in relief, hating the feeling of helplessness. "I think he's—"

He was cut off by a sudden jerk in Gojyo's body, the kappa's eyes flying wide in pain. As the group gathered near, they were horrified by what they saw.

"Wha? Ew!" Goku said pretty accurately. "What's that gross stuff on 'im?!"

"What's happening to his veins?!" gagged an equally horrified Roxanna.

Indeed, his veins were bulging all over his body where they could see skin and none had any doubts that they spread all over the rest of his body.

"S-son of a…" gasped Gojyo, twitching in pain before grabbing his head as he screamed bloody murder. "Shit!" he grated out, after the spasm had passed. "Something's _**moving**_ in me! It's in my goddamn _**blood**_!"

"What exactly was he shot with?" demanded Sanzo, looking to Hakkai for answers.

"Gojyo!" exclaimed the two youngest at the same time.

"It can't be," Hakkai said in a disbelieving tone. "It's almost as if something were planted—"

He was cut off by the doll. "-A seed, Cho Gonou.-" They all looked, startled by the unknown voice. "-I planted a seed in his body. If you wait, it will suck all his blood and spread roots!-" The words were disgustingly ominous.

"What th' heck is _**that?!**_ A creepy demon baby!" said a seriously freaked Goku even as Roxanna jumped on him to get off the ground.

"I hate puppets!" she spazed even as Goku began to balance her weight. "They're possessed freakshows!"

"It's from Chin Yisou," Hakkai said, worried and sickened.

"Him again?" snarled a disgusted Sanzo.

"-Ah,-" the doll said as if remembering something. "-You must hurry. If you don't kill the seed, your friend will become just another tree in the forest. Or would you rather leave him and help the environment? Wa ha ha ha!-"

By this point, Goku had knocked Roxanna off of him and they both were trying to hide behind Sanzo, equally freaked looks on their faces.

"-Yes, I'll tell you right now. The seed is planted by his heart.-"

"…Bastard," Sanzo snarled, seriously pissed. "If you've got a demand, let's hear it."

"-Wa ha ha ha!-" cackled the possessed toy as both teenagers flinched behind Sanzo. "-Wa ha ha ha ha! This is so much **fun**, Cho Gonou! Why don't you come join our side? Wa ha ha ha ha!-"

_Ka-BLAM!_

A single gunshot rang through the air as the doll's head shattered. Sanzo shook the two teenagers off of him, clearly annoyed… not to mention highly disturbed by what the doll had said.

"Sanzo…" murmured Hakkai, not sure whether or not the actions of the priest had been highly unwarranted. Sanzo remained silent for a moment as he raised his gun away from the puppet.

"So, he's a hobby man…" mused Sanzo as he ground a piece of the china into the dirt. "…Besides being a perverted psycho." He turned to the group. "Goku, Roxanna. Hold Gojyo's arms back."

"Huh? Uh, okay," Goku said, confused but doing as told. Roxanna bit her lip for a brief second before also bracing herself against Gojyo's arms. The two each took an arm and pinned them above his head. Roxanna tried not to feel the unnaturally hard, bulging veins beneath her hands.

"Listen up, Chin Yisou!" Genjyo Sanzo shouted into the darkness. "If this is what you want, you got it!" He cocked his gun and pointed it straight at Gojyo's pained form.

"Sanzo!" Goku shouted in obvious confusion as Roxanna watched him in horror and Hakkai reflexively started. "What the heck're you _**doing**_?!"

"Wait!" protested Hakkai, putting a restraining hand on Sanzo's shoulder. "The target's too small—You'll never hit it! And even if you did, the shock to his heart—"

"Hakkai," Sanzo said firmly, overriding the green-eyed youkai. "After I shoot, move in to heal him." He looked at the two teens. "Don't let go, you two," he ordered.

"Ack!" yelped Goku even as Roxanna exclaimed, "Are you serious?!"

"I won't miss. If he dies, it's because his heart couldn't hack it," Sanzo said in an assured manner.

"Stupid…" gasped Gojyo in visible anger even though he was in even more obvious pain, "Arrogant… Dick. You couldn't kill me if you tried."

"Keep talking if you want to bite your tongue off," Sanzo said, no emotion to his voice. He had a task. And that was to shoot a small, hard to hit target in a single, well-aimed shot. And not kill the idiot it was in. Sanzo pulled the trigger, firing one 10 mm bullet straight into Gojyo's chest, the kappa spitting blood even as he bucked against the ground, Goku, and Roxanna. Immediately, whatever plant that had been growing into him died and he fainted from the pain.

"Gojyo!" yelped Roxanna, wiping the spatters of blood from her face, leaving faint red streaks. Hakkai was already moving in, his hands glowing with the chi focused into them. Sanzo grunted as he watched with well-disguised worry.

"…I've closed the wound," Hakkai said. "He's unconscious, but alive," he assured them.

"Phew!" breathed Goku in a sigh of relief. "That was bad for _my_ heart! Jeez!" Hakkai hovered over his still friend's body for a moment before abruptly standing.

"This is my fault," he said firmly.

"Huh?" Goku said, turning.

"Chin Yisou is clearly after me."

"Don't start, Hakkai," Sanzo said with a frown.

"But Sanzo!" protested Hakkai, turning to look at the man he respected.

"Just calm down," shouted Sanzo as he grabbed Hakkai by the front of the shirt to shake some sense into him. "Loosing your senses is _exactly_ what he wants."

A second later, Hakkai collapsed and Sanzo caught his suddenly falling body. "Hakkai? Hey!" shouted the startled Sanzo. He turned to Goku and Roxanna, both standing shocked. "Go get water, you two!" he snarled.

"Yessir!" "Got it!" That was their replies.

The two turned and darted to where the Jeep was. Of course, it took a bit longer than it should have because both got slightly turned around in the dark forest. Roxanna stared at the vehicle. "Jiipu!"

"There ya are," Goku said in obvious relief. "With all these trees, my sense of direction's whack."

Roxanna gave him a funny look. "I think I noticed when I decided to follow _you_ back."

The two started hunting for the water bottle, Goku calling for it like it would actually come, oblivious to the dark figure residing in the tree above their heads. "Hey! There you are!" chirruped the monkey as he pulled it out, Roxanna incidentally holding the strap. He grinned at Roxanna. "Looks like we both found it!"

Roxanna rolled her eyes, though she grinned too. "Now, let's go back to the guys, k?"

Chin Yisou at that point decided to strike. Leaping down, he scared both of them to jumping away from each other. Roxanna ran to the woods, fearing the strange man that seemed to have a gigantic grudge against Hakkai or Gonou or whatever he had called him.

Goku ran the opposite way when it was clear that the fortune teller was after him. He didn't want Ana-chan hurt by him. That, and he was terrified. The smell coming off that thing was that of a corpse. As Goku ran through the forest, he realized a moment too late that there was nowhere else to run and fell down the cliff that suddenly wasn't under his feet anymore. Tumbling down the rough cliff face, he lost consciousness as he hit a ledge protruding out. Luckily, the loss of consciousness didn't allow him to directly feel the sharp snap that was his femur breaking in two.

At the top of the cliff, Yisou smirked. It seemed that one more of Cho Gonou's little friends have suffered. Now for the girl. This was so much fun. The strange demon went in search of the youngest member of the Sanzo party and found her wandering around and looking for any familiar face. And what better way to damage a girl than to…

He grinned at the thought and appeared before her, earning a startled shout. Roxanna looked up at him in horror as she turned and tried to run. However, he caught her wrist and pushed her against a tree. "Remember, girl. This is because your friend is a murderer," he whispered silkily in her ear before proceeding to touch her in places that she _really_ wished he wasn't. His clawed hand that wasn't gripping her wrist was at her breast even as he pressed his body against hers. It was disgusting. She really started struggling when that hand of his slid down between…

"Lemme go!" she shouted, fighting and beating on him with her free hand, but he was far too strong. She let out a strangled yell, momentarily closing her eyes, and suddenly there was a sharp _ker-SNAP_ sound and the acrid smell of burning flesh.

"Well, isn't this unexpected?" mused a slightly toasted Chin Yisou half a meter away. Roxanna stared at him in horror once she opened her eyes. He wasn't in pain… what was he?! "Hm… I suppose we can continue this later, hm?" The sick grin on his face was enough to make Roxanna shudder. She slid around the tree and bolted away from him like a bat out of hell. There was no way on God's green earth that she'd let him 'continue this later' as he so horribly said. _Never_ had she had that happen to her. _Never would she let it happen again._

When she felt that she was far enough, Roxanna collapsed against a tree trunk and began to cry. This was just wrong. So very, very wrong. After a long moment, she stood and began to try and find the others again. There, she could be weak and not worry about getting killed by the freakish demon.

Back with Sanzo, Gojyo, and Hakkai, they were taking a smoke break waiting for the two youngest in their party to return. The fog wasn't helping at all, sadly, so there was nothing more they could really do other than sit tight.

A rustling noise caught Gojyo's attention. "Huh?" he murmured before catching Sanzo's attention. "Oi, look! Is that…"

Sure enough, Goku came out of the brush with a wide smile. "Hey! I found ya, I found ya!" he chirruped as he came closer.

"Goku!" both men shouted in relief.

"Man, I thought you guys woulda left me by now!"

Gojyo caught him in a headlock and proceeded to give him a noogie. "Where the _hell_ were you, turd? And where's Ana-chan?"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" exclaimed Goku as he tried to get the kappa off. "I j-just got the water and got lost. Ana-chan an' me got separated. Leggo!"

"Stupid monkey. Why do we bother? And why didn't you look for Ana-chan?"

"Chin Yisou didn't find you? False alarm, then," Sanzo said with a distinctly uneasy look on his face even as Hakkai emerged from the shallow cave fully dressed.

"Goku!" he exclaimed in relief, seeing the younger man. "Thank goodness," sighed Hakkai, touching Goku on the shoulders to make sure he was real. "Please don't worry me like that again." He looked around even as Goku responded and Sanzo watched the two interact.

"Uh, okay. Sorry."

"Where's Roxanna-dono?" asked Hakkai, not seeing their female companion. But before Goku could respond…

"…Hey," interrupted Sanzo, his suspicions seeming to have been confirmed. "Where's Jeep?"

"Huh?" said the easily distracted Goku. "I dunno. Haven't seen 'im," the chimp said in a nonchalant tone. "When the fog clears, he'll prolly come back. Let's get the heck outta here." He began to walk away.

But Sanzo stopped him again. "…Goku."

"Yeah?" asked the chimp only to freeze when he was looking down the barrel of Sanzo's Smith & Wesson. "Wha…"

The gun gave a small sound as Gojyo and Hakkai watched in silence. They, too, realized the problem the moment Sanzo had leveled his gun. "You're not him," Sanzo said quietly. "I know the monkey who called me."

The chimp became increasingly more upset. "Wh-What're you doin', Sanzo? Quit jokin' around! It's me, Sanzo! Me!"

Sanzo looked down on the fake, anger burning in his eyes along with a promise of death. "And one more thing," the priest said in a very calm voice as he pressed the barrel to the fake's forehead. "The only one who can use my name so cavalierly…" He pulled the trigger, firing a bullet into the skull, instantly killing the fake. "…Is the _**real**_ stupid monkey." The fake collapsed to the ground in a heap, blood spilling out right before it began to crumble to dust, leaving only a mahjong tile in its wake.

That was it. They were pissed. "Drag your ass out here, Chin Yisou," Gojyo catcalled. "Sanzo-sama's pissed and wants a talky." Hakkai looked out into the fog, trying to perceive where the demon was.

"That was very well done," Yisou's voice said suddenly out of the mist, bringing their attention to him. "I've underestimated you." Sure enough, the fog cleared and there sat the corpse on a rock. "Always a pleasure," he said with a grin, though it was marred by the burns on his face. Hakkai stared at him with barely concealed anger. "That doll was a fine one. A shame, really. How did you ever figure it out?" mused Yisou.

"You fell short on your homework, pal," Gojyo said flippantly as Sanzo raised his gun. "Goku never says anything without first whining for food."

"Ah, tricky, tricky," chuckled Yisou, one sleeve sliding back as he raised his arm to reveal a slightly burnt hand so he could rest that hand against his cheek.

As if on cue, down a cliff some distance away, a certain monkey was climbing with a dragon hovering nearby. "I want food! _Man_, this sucks."

Hakkai slipped into dark remembrances of the past before being suddenly awoken again by the sound of a gunshot. Startled by how he seemed to be loosing it, Hakkai murmured a 'huh?' as he stared at Sanzo's smoking gun. And there was a smoking hole near the rock where Yisou was sitting.

"Goku. Roxanna. Where are they?" demanded Sanzo. "The next one won't miss."

A slight rustling sound was heard and they all looked to one side to see Roxanna emerge from the bushes, looking tired and terribly upset. The look vanished the moment her eyes fell on Chin Yisou and she bolted behind Gojyo, as he was closest to her, barely keeping from screaming out the moment she saw him. They didn't get a chance to ask her if she was okay or if she had seen Goku for Yisou responded.

"Ah," Chin Yisou said slowly as if pondering it over. "Well there is one, but what do you think happened to the other? Is he wandering around in the fog, perhaps?" He grinned maliciously. "Or residing in the belly of a bear instead?" Sanzo shot at him, missing as the freakshow jumped out of the way. "Hoo hoo hoo. Short tempered, are we?" teased Yisou with a snap of his fingers. "Perhaps you're not eating a balanced diet?"

They looked down when they felt something wriggling and moving on their legs and climbing upwards. "What the hell?!" demanded Gojyo in complete shock as he stared at the thick masses of centipedes climbing up his body as Roxanna froze, really wishing this was some nightmare as she murmured over and over 'Oh, my god. Oh, my god.' Her eyes wide with horror. Sanzo also froze for a moment, not wanting to incur a bite, his face twisted into a disgusted grimace. Hakkai was clutching at his own arms, shaking badly.

"Tch! Where are they coming from?" the priest snarled, trying to knock some of the bugs off.

"Hyakugan Maoh was a centipede youkai." They all looked to Yisou who had suddenly spoken in a very calm, almost conversational tone. "Centipedes capture insects with the venom in their chins, yes?" he asked rhetorically. "You'd best hurry to escape. I'm afraid so many bites may jeopardize your lives."

A startled shout of 'Hakkai!' came from several throats at once when Hakkai's knees buckled and he slumped down to somewhat crouch on the ground, the centipedes working their way up fast as if knowing his peril.

"Do you not yet hate me enough?" asked Chin Yisou as he stepped on his 'friends' to come up to Hakkai. One clawed hand came forward and cupped Hakkai's chin to force him to look the demon straight in the face. "Well," breathed the youkai as he looked at Hakkai with malicious intent. "Look very carefully." He slowly stood, forcing Hakkai to half-stand even though his body was two-thirds covered by the poisonous bugs. "This is the son of the centipede monster…" He grinned in a self satisfied manner. "…Who raped and impregnated your precious sister."

Hakkai's eyes widened before he gained enough courage to break free from the centipedes to lash out at Yisou. He missed, only earning a soft and decidedly amused 'oh, my' from the demon's lips before he was elbowed in the gut. The youkai slayer hacked as his breath left him and before he could even recover, Yisou knocked him down and pinned him.

"Hakkai!" shouted Gojyo even though he was still covered in the centipedes. "Leave him alone!"

But it did little good as Yisou didn't care about the others. Hakkai glared up at him with a dark look, wishing that he was free even as he struggled against the grip. "Ah, there we are," he said in a tone of someone having found an elusive prized item. "Your face is changing nicely." He ground his head into the dirt. "I don't know if you plan to atone for those innocent lives you stole. It's not really that I hate your gallant hypocrisy, you know. But rather…" The sadistic side in the demon came out at that point as Hakkai's eyes lost what little warmth they had. "_It's your foolishness and murderous intent that will fill my heart as I wish._"

Roxanna had watched every big of the proceedings, the energy welling up in her to help her friend. She didn't know what Hakkai had done in his past, nor did she really care what he did. All she knew was that he was a good man now and every person deserved a second chance. Besides, these bugs were freaking her the hell out and she had enough electricity to become a Roxanna-shaped bug zapper. Her energy continued to build, forcing some of the bugs off, but it was Sanzo that stopped the three-ring circus from continuing with a few choice words.

"Shut the hell up. Your ranting is painful," Sanzo stated 'calmly' in a vastly irritated tone. "Of the three things I hate most in this world, you've already managed two."

"Oh?" asked Yisou, his curiosity peaked. "And what are those?"

Wordlessly, Sanzo activated his sutra, the paper swirling around them all, banishing the insects and forcing Yisou back. "Perverts and insects," Sanzo stated flatly as Yisou tried to shield his shifty eyes with a wrist.

But before Chin Yisou could obtain any sort of advantage again, a thin crescent-shaped blade on a long, seemingly endless chain sliced in between the holy scripture's coils and straight through the perverted psycho's arm, cutting it completely off. The startled demon grasped at his arm as the blood spurted forth, a grimace on his features. The useless arm flopped on the ground at his feet.

"Eeww," Roxanna said as she eyed the dismembered body part. "Naaastyyyy." She drew out the vowels as she grimaced herself, one hand going close enough to the rest of her body to create an arc of energy. "Erk!" she yipped in surprise as the electricity snapped.

"Hunh," Gojyo said as the chain retracted and the blade of Shakujou met the staff part in Gojyo's hand. "Lookit that. It's been a while since I sliced something up. It feels so, so nice to unwind," the kappa said with a sneer and quite the dirty look. "I've been such a _**good**_ boy lately."

Roxanna gave him a severely disgusted look. "Ew. Pervert." The hanyou grinned lecherously at her and her reaction. "Seriously. I do _not_ want to hear about your goddamn conquests. Especially first or second hand and certainly not third person."

"Aw, Ana-chan!" Roxanna just huffed and put her hands on her hips, the electricity snapping and crackling where they connected for she hadn't discharged completely.

"…Hey," Sanzo said, drawing their attention. "You all right, Hakkai?" The green-eyed demon was staring at the ground with wide eyes and didn't even twitch.

"Hakkai?" asked Roxanna when she saw him not even responding.

"Oi! Snap out of it, dammit!" said an incredibly upset Gojyo as he seized his best friend by the shoulders and shook him. "Listen to me!" he persisted. "You're _**Cho Hakkai**_! Got it?" The incredibly confused man covered his left eye.

"I-I'm all right," he said slowly, even though it was evident he wasn't. "I'm s-sorr—"

"Gojyo, watch it!" shouted Sanzo in warning.

But by the time Gojyo had received the warning, it was a tad too late once again. Yisou, it seemed, wasn't down for the count and gripped the half-youkai's head and pulled it back, his nails beginning to bite in. "Wha…!" managed a startled Gojyo.

"Gojyo!" cried out a panicked Roxanna, followed by an echoing cry from Hakkai's lips.

But suddenly, Yisou was forced to let go as a tiny white and very persistent dragon began attacking him, driving him off a tiny ways.

"Jeep?!" Hakkai said in wonder as they all eyed their transportation in wonder and shock. Yisou had enough of the interfering animal and swiped at him, but Hakuryuu nimbly dodged the speeding claws.

"You guys okay?" Goku asked, coming out of the bushes, startling them all.

"Goku!" Roxanna said, running over to him. Her relief at him being okay and in one piece was great.

He laughed with a grimace. "Sorry I took so long," he apologized as Ana-chan was fretting over him.

"Rrgh!" growled Gojyo, forgetting Yisou for a moment as he opted to kick the shit out of the imp. "Way to be _late_, you little shit!"

"I couldn't help it!" protested Goku, shielding his head from the attack. "My leg's broke! An' it hurts!" Roxanna looked at the appendage. Indeed, there was a dark red stain of blood on his pant leg. She knelt down to examine it as Goku actually flopped down to the ground. "Man," whined Goku as his stomach sent out a long, thin whine. "I'm so hungry I could eat a _building_. Today really blows."

"…It's him," Gojyo said with a smirk.

"That's Goku, all right," laughed Hakkai even as Hakuryuu checked his master for painful injuries. Ana-chan gave them a peculiar look, as if to ask what the hell they were talking about.

"Um… What are you tal--?"

She was cut off when Sanzo said a single, terse word. "…Goku."

"Huh?" the called chimp. He looked at Sanzo right before.

_SMACK_!

"You _brainless ape_!" snarled out Sanzo as he smacked Goku harshly upside the back of his head.

"Gyah!" cried out the Monkey King in pain before gripping the sore area with his hands. "_What was __**that**__ for_?" he screamed at Sanzo.

"All is well," Sanzo said, suddenly much calmer.

"All's **not** well, ya violent droop!"

"You okay?" asked Roxanna, shocked by Sanzo's actions even though Goku's leg was broken. Apparently they didn't think that one could walk on a broken leg…

"Ggrr," growled the slightly older teenager as he rubbed the spot and glared at Sanzo's back.

"You could just tell him you're relieved," teased Gojyo. "But this's cuter. Heh heh." He didn't want to admit himself how relieved he was that Goku and Ana-chan both were safe.

Their attention was brought back to the situation at hand, however, when Yisou picked up his arm in an almost nonchalant manner. "Aaah… A clean slice, that," he said.

Gojyo was the one that broke the terse silence that followed, though every person was clearly unsettled by the actions of the strange demon… "Wait. Doesn't that… uh… hurt?"

"Oh, yes. Yes," affirmed Yisou, tossing aside the useless appendage, blood splattering slightly as he did so. "But when I watch all of your childish tomfoolery…" He lifted a hand covered with his own blood. "I get such chills that I forget about the pain."

"So the pervert shows his colors," Sanzo said in a flat, disgusted tone as all the members of the Sanzo-Ikkou stared at him with cold, disgusted eyes. Roxanna, well… she was somewhat sidling behind Gojyo once again. No way. He had acted as though he weren't in as much pain when she electrocuted him as well…

"Um, Sanzo?" Goku garnered Sanzo's attention. "There's somethin' weird about that guy," the little chimp said. "I can smell 'im." The seriousness in his tone kept those around him from interrupting as he stared at Yisou. "An' it's like he isn't _livin'_ at all."

It drew a highly startled look from Hakkai even as Roxanna gagged in her horror.

"What do you mean?" demanded Sanzo.

"Well, I dunno," Goku persisted. "But it's nuts to be fine when your arm's chopped off!"

"Hang on a sec," cut in Gojyo, his mouth in a hard frown in his confusion. "What're you saying? He's not… a _ghost_ or something, is he?"

Roxanna paled to a shade almost as white as Yisou himself as she stared at him in terror. "Y'mean I almost got raped by a _**zombie**_?!" she squealed. Yisou chuckled as the men sans a spazing Hakkai gained a chill air about them.

Gojyo was of the belief that if a woman wasn't willing, you shouldn't force her. And his best friend was having major emotional problems thanks to this freaky psychotic asshole. Not to mention he got shot by a freaky ass seed that nearly killed him right before he got shot _again_ to save his life.

Goku, in his idealistic view on the world, was upset that anyone would do such horrible things to anyone. He didn't care as much that he had been thrown down a cliff and had his leg broken by the demonic zombie, but when it came to his friends, come hell or high water he would defend them to the end. And Chin Yisou had hurt Hakkai, Gojyo, _and_ Ana.

Sanzo was disgusted by the youkai's perversion and the lengths he was going through to break Hakkai. He was also disgusted that he would know exactly what buttons to push in order to get the best reactions from the group. Though Gojyo was annoying, he didn't deserve death. Though Goku was close to them, he couldn't be imitated properly. Though Roxanna was the weakest in their group, she shouldn't have been molested. And though Hakkai was not innocent of the crimes Yisou spoke of, he didn't deserve what Yisou was doing.

As their anger built, Yisou decided to speak. Probably not the brightest of ideas, but who can accuse a corpse of being anything but brain dead? "Well, now. Shall we end the idle chatter here?" He paused for a moment before smirking. "I've been thinking you know. I wonder just _what_ will make Cho Gonou happy."

At the mention of his old name, Hakkai looked at the corpse with hate and wonder, knowing that he had killed this monster of his past.

"It's quite simple, yes?" pressed Chin Yisou in an almost teacher-like tone as he raised a single clawed digit as though emphasizing a point. "Tormenting his friends is the most efficient path."

"Hey!" a pissed Goku cut in, his golden eyes burning with his anger. "You're a scummy lil' rat, y'know that?"

"Hm hm hm," Yisou laughed darkly as he readied the mahjong point counters he seemed to favor. "What delicious praise." With that, he snapped his hand and sent the little sticks flying. They passed a startled Gojyo and slightly nicked Roxanna who hadn't moved out of the way in time to land at Goku's feet. "The young man with red hair… little golden eyes… and the little lady," the demon said conversationally. "We've already had our fun. So my next dear playmate…"

The flying projectiles were once again thrown only to be caught almost absently by Sanzo between his right hand's fingers. The priest loosened his grip and the useless pins fell to the floor of the forest.

"I'm at the end of the loyal lineup," said a rather pleased corpse as he licked his lips with a long, pointed tongue.

"I'd like to see you try," snarled a flat-eyed Sanzo in response.

* * *

is a popular 'ghost story' invented by a young lady. It is about a man known as Dr. Frankenstein and his rather unorthodox creation dubbed 'Frankenstein's monster'.

* * *

**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

_Volume 4: Chapter 18: Revenge Tragedy_

_Volume 4: Chapter 19: Misty_

_Volume 4: Chapter 20: Wandering Destiny_

* * *

**_Review, please!_**


	8. VII: Frankenstein II

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Saiyuki. I wish I did. I have to say this every time, honestly.

* * *

**Reviews:** I have some more reviews! Yay! Return reviewers are: **Chick-A-Doom** and **Spellcaster Hikaru**. Love you guys much! And thanks for telling me I had a good chapter. I really appreciate it! **LIA** is new and here's that chapter you wished for. I was hoping for more reviews, honestly, before I posted. Hope you enjoy. And as a throwback to Hikaru, yes, Yisou dies. Kinda sad if you ask me. **Ran**, wow, aren't you hyper for more? I'm laughing though you can't see. You gave me two reviews. On the same chapter. This is how eager you were, hunh? Thanks! And my advertisement on GaiaOnline (link on my profile page) worked well. Heya, **Twilight-to-Nightfall**, I am thrilled that you like the story. I've been slacking off lately due to work, but here's a chapter I finished. 

And the number of hits went up phenomenally. Here's a break down.

At 8:30 a.m. Central, on July 21, 2007:

**Overall:** 972 (last at 746 when I updated)

**P:** 333 (last at 252 when I updated)

**I:** 127 (last at 109 when I updated)

**II:** 112 (last at 97 when I updated)

**III:** 119 (last at 110 when I updated)

**IV:** 142 (last at 124 when I updated)

**V:** 74 (last at 54 when I updated)

**VI:** 65

* * *

**Chapter VII: Frankenstein II**

"Hm, seems as though I'm running out of friends to chase," Chin Yisou mused conversationally.

Sanzo was not amused by the words as he watched Yisou with dark, flat eyes. "Whatever. Knock yourself out."

The others stood, watching. Hakkai's eyes were exceptionally dark and angry as he realized… he had killed this man. He shouldn't have even been alive but here he stood.

"Hey!" Goku yelled out, attracting Yisou's amused attention. "Scumwad!" The teen growled threateningly even as he balanced painfully on his broken leg. "If you try an' bother Sanzo, you won't get away with it!"

Yisou found this to be very funny indeed, for he lifted his arm and said just as he cast the thin pins of wood at Goku, "My, my. Your pet is very loyal. And yet…" They dug into Goku's leg, earning a pained 'ow' from the monkey.

"Goku?!" shouted a startled Gojyo as Goku dropped on his ass from the sudden painful hit.

"That's quite the tough guy act, when you can barely stand," sneered the centipede corpse as he let out a laugh.

"Wait," a stunned Sanzo said as they all stared for a moment at the fallen teen. "You really broke your leg?"

"Grrrr," growled Goku, annoyed. "That's what I said _before_, jerk!"

"Heeey. Your leg's bent funny. Ew…" Okay, Gojyo seemed to be quickly distracted and entertained by the broken leg Goku now sported. Roxanna looked at him in annoyance even as she scooted around so that there was at least one trustworthy body between her and Yisou. "Did you know?" the kappa asked.

"Uh. It's kinda obvious that he's hobbling when he usually runs," deadpanned Roxanna.

As the three conversed, Hakkai sidled over to Sanzo and softly whispered his name to gain the priest's attention. Once it had been garnered, Hakkai offered a suggestion. "Let's split up."

Sanzo gave a 'hm?' before he agreed. "All right." He knew why Hakkai was suggesting it. Gojyo was probably not a hundred percent yet. Goku's leg was broken. And Roxanna was still far too weak to drag with them. Besides, Yisou had already had his 'fun' with them, so, they were in turn safe.

Spinning around quickly, he whipped his gun out and fired off a shot at Yisou, who nimbly dodged yet again. The corpse landed a second later safely out of the way and was definitely not amused. "It's a little late for a surprise attack, isn't it?" he mused.

"We can do without your advice!" snapped out an unusually terse Hakkai. He summoned his energy forth and blasted Yisou deep into the woods with just one shot. Immediately, the two men set their plan in action as Sanzo started in the general direction the corpse fell, the violet-eyed man barking out orders per usual. "We're going, Hakkai!"

"Gojyo, Roxanna-dono—Take care of Goku!" Hakkai ordered over his shoulder as he followed the priest.

"Wha?" all three chorused almost at the same time. "Sons of… rrrgh!" growled Gojyo, gaining his usage to speak first. "They actually _ditched_ us!"

"Hey, no fair!" shouted Goku after them.

"What the fuckin' hell are they thinking?!" swore Roxanna as she stared in the direction they had vanished.

"That guy's not gonna be easy to beat. Move, monkey," Gojyo ordered as he picked up said monkey and earning a yelp from the startled chimp.

However, his sudden vigor was stunted when a spasm of pain made itself known from his previous encounter with Sanzo's bullet. He wavered for a minute, earning a strange look from Goku on his back and Roxanna who had moved ahead by accident.

"Gojyo?" Goku asked, not understanding why Gojyo had stopped suddenly.

"Oh, man… You've still got that bullet wound from yesterday!" remembered Roxanna.

Gojyo apparently didn't like being reminded of such events for the look on his face spoke of nothing more than pain and embarrassment… not to mention he actually managed to look a little blue from his sudden bout of… apparent depression.

But this wasn't good enough for Goku. He had to shout at the kappa to get him moving and his choice of words were: "**Ya big baby!** We're gonna loose 'em!"

"Hey! Of all of us, I'm the most able to move right about now!" Roxanna said suddenly.

"You can't defend yourself, Ana-kun!" shot back Gojyo.

"Don't yell at Ana-chan!" shouted Goku at his ride.

"Shut yer yap!" snarled back Gojyo, most annoyed. "_I'm_ not the monkey with the broken ass."

"That's not what's broke! An' quit callin' me monkey, kappa!"

"Jesus Christ Almighty! Can we stop arguing already?!" shouted Roxanna.

"NO!" chorused the two. "Not until the chimp sees it my way!" shouted Gojyo.

"Stop callin' me a monkey!"

"Both of you stuff your goddamn differences up your damn asses and let's move!" Roxanna shouted, startling them both. "We're not gaining ground standing here and arguing about who's right and who's wrong. We need to get to Sanzo and Hakkai!"

They stared at her somewhat sheepishly before all three began moving in the last direction any of them had seen their companions go.

Away in the woods, far out of sight of the trio that had been baited and caught by a certain psychopathic youkai, Sanzo and Hakkai were forced to come up short when Chin Yisou's taunting words reached their ears. "Oh? So you planned to draw me from the wounded. Hoo hoo. Very well."

The nonchalant manner that he accepted such steps was a bit unnerving; however, the priest and demon slayer had achieved their goal. Get Yisou away from the others. But, naturally the youkai had to break that idea fairly quickly. "Your optimism will prove fatal!"

"Don't be stupid," Sanzo shot back, not at all amused by the demon's antics. "You want me, right? You'd better not miss."

Hakkai was keeping an eye out for the demon, making sure he got neither too close nor too far. However, his mind's eye was wandering elsewhere to a long forgotten memory in a bottle that had been stopped up by time. Such distractions kept him from keeping perfect track of the demon. Sanzo, who's own demon tracking abilities were sub-par compared to Hakkai's, was wary and trying to keep an ear to the ground, so to speak, for the monster chasing them.

"Did we lose him?" murmured Sanzo to Hakkai as they gasped for breath and leaned back against a tree trunk to keep themselves covered. Hakkai absently wiped the sweat from his brow before speaking.

"…This is bad," he murmured back, unsure of how to answer Sanzo's question. "I'm worried about the others. Gojyo… Goku… and Rox-anna-dono."

"Don't be," Sanzo said in that way of his to be utmost reassuring while not giving a single uplifting thing to say. As he eyed the area, he gave another statement. "They're probably nearby."

There was a momentary pause.

"You know what he wants, don't you?" asked Sanzo, effectively killing any sort of reassurance he might have said before. "He's going to try and kill me in front of you."

"Yes…" mused Hakkai. "You're probably right." His eyes widened in surprise as he heard the faint '_click_' of a bit of metal on stone. Glancing around the tree, he saw Sanzo had pulled out his lighter and a cigarette and had begun to smoke. "You've been smoking a lot more lately," observed the green-eyed demon.

"Life gets more aggravating by the day," Sanzo grunted.

"Are you being sarcastic?" asked Hakkai, unsure of whether or not Sanzo had meant the words or not.

"Do you understand spoken language?" Sanzo asked back. The rhetorical question confirmed it. Sanzo was indeed being sarcastic.

A terse silence fell as they strained to hear any incoming. "Sanzo," Hakkai said into the unnaturally quiet forest.

"What?" Sanzo growled out. "Ask a stupid question and I'm afraid I'll have to kill you," he added, trying to forestall of any unnecessary questions.

"Ah," Hakkai laughed, crossing his arms momentarily. "Maybe I won't ask, then." He wore a smile despite the bruise under his left eye. The smile was, sadly, more of a grimace rather than a grin.

"Are you _trying_ to pick a fight?" asked an exasperated _Sanzo_ as he glanced around the trunk.

On the other side of that tree, Hakkai slid his right hand to grip his left shoulder. "I just wonder," he said softly. "Maybe I shouldn't be here at all."

A pause stilled the air save for the white tendrils of smoke spiraling and twisting up to the sky. A mere moment later, Sanzo spoke.

"…Yes, the question is stupid. Don't ask it again." In that unique Sanzo way, he managed to say something that was totally not nice yet not unkind. "I know you won't betray me, Hakkai." The smoke continued to drift from the burning embers of the cigarette. "Right?"

The youkai killer was startled by such words. Stunned quite neatly by the monk's self-assured, confidence-giving words… "That's not fair… Sanzo…" he murmured to, perhaps, the man that understood him best. His thoughts continued down the path though he dropped it. _'I certainly don't have a choice. I could never betray him when he puts it like __**that**__.'_

Away from the front seat duo, three backseat misfits were trying to find their leader and their driver… none too successfully.

"Argh!" shouted Goku. "I **said** put me down!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop making noise!" berated Roxanna.

"But I can walk by myself!"

"Just shut up and sit still," Gojyo said flatly. "You can't even stand on that leg, so shut your piehole!"

"But _you're _not healed, so _you_ can't push it!" protested Goku.

"Goku, sweetie, you have a heart of solid gold, but you can't go walking around on a broken leg!" Roxanna said, coming around to look Goku square in the eye. "Yeah, Gojyo's hurt, but don't you think it's better for you to cooperate rather than fight? You're making it harder! And you know I can't carry you!"

"Listen to Ana-kun and stop making this harder like she said, dammit!" Gojyo seemed on the verge of dumping Goku's ass and beating him to death. He steadied himself against a tree that coincidentally had a pair of bullet holes in it. "Hell," said the injured sprite. "Where are we?"

Looking ahead of them, there was a trashed forest. Trees laid on their sides or their trunks were cut up. Branches littered the forest floor.

"Hoshiz," muttered Roxanna, looking at the destroyed area. "Just how far did they go?" She caught them both looking at her in surprise and amusement. "What?"

"What in the hell was that word?" asked Gojyo.

"What word?" asked a confused Latina girl.

"The word that sounded like Cheese Whiz!" chirruped Goku.

It dawned on her suddenly. "How on earth did you get 'cheese whiz' fro 'hoshiz'?" she asked.

"They sound alike!"

"Only the last syllable," Roxanna said, confused. "But it's a word I made up."

"Why?" asked Goku.

"Because I didn't want to swear in front of a bunch of little kids," blinked Roxanna. "Can we drop this? We've got to go help them!"

Brought back to topic, Goku whipped around to face forward and started shaking his fist furiously. "Yeah! What's up with that psycho creep?! The man is creepy!"

"Easy there," murmured Gojyo, balancing the weight of the suddenly energetic monkey on his back. "I dunno what happened to him and Hakkai. But I'm worried. It's just… his sanity's not stable."

Suddenly sober again, emotion-wise, Goku spoke suddenly with conviction. "…Hakkai'll be okay."

"Huh?" uttered both Gojyo and Roxanna.

"He told me somethin' once. 'If somebody believes in me, I owe it to them to try an' protect myself.' He doesn't want to look bad, y'know? So there. Hakkai's gonna be fine."

Both his slightly older and younger companions were shocked by the philosophical nature of Goku's words for a bare moment.

That moment abruptly ended when Gojyo began to run forward, throwing Goku back because he wasn't ready for the sudden movement. "We're pickin' up the pace!" he shouted as a startled Roxanna began to run after them. "Don't fall, chimp!"

"Stupid looser lecher _**kappa**_!" shouted Goku as he regained his balance.

"Hurry up, Ana-kun!"

"What the hell has gotten into you, Red?!" she shouted after him.

As they headed towards their friends, the blonde looked up at the forest canopy and uttered three small, significant words. "It's too quiet."

"Yes," agreed Hakkai. "Unnaturally so."

All manner of tiny forest sounds had ceased as was wildlife's nature when in the presence of a predator that was far stronger than they.

"I guess he's finally showing." Sanzo dropped his cigarette even as he said this and extinguished it's embers with a well-placed foot. There were a few others near his feet that had been smoked during their tense waiting.

At the sudden sound of the limbs and leaves moving above their heads, Sanzo whipped out his gun and pointed it towards them, but the sound suddenly was just above their heads and off to one side.

A sudden noise of flying projectiles filled the air and they shifted out of the way of most of thin mahjong sticks, glaring up at the trees, searching for the known perpetrator.

"When did he--?" Sanzo snarled.

But his words were cut short by laughing, mocking words. "Hoo hoo hoo! Not bad, if I do say so myself. Having fun?"

Now having something to go by other than movement in trees, the two focused upon the voice and soon located Yisou not far from them in the branches up a tall tree. "It looks like it's time for our final chat." A mocking sneer covered Yisou's face. "Anyways, I take it you know of Cho Gonou's past."

"So?" Sanzo replied, for it was he that the question was aimed at.

"And you know, of course, of his pointless murdering for his twisted love affair."

"And?" said the priest, his body both tense for the action to come but loose to actually move.

Yisou dropped out of the tree to land rather gracefully on the ground despite the loss of his limb. "What good friends, Cho Gonou. I'm moved." The demon stepped forward a little. "You really do have something worth loosing," he mused.

At the same time elsewhere, Roxanna had asked a doubly loaded question. Why did that demon corpse keep calling Hakkai 'Gonou'? It wasn't something that Gojyo brought up or something the group ever talked about. Hakkai had never wanted it brought up so naturally they didn't bring it up.

But she had to know.

"That was his name up until three years ago," explained Gojyo as he continued to carry Goku. "I found him on the road and he had his guts all over the place. I rescued his ass… and… well, Sanzo shows up sometime later and demands for him. I'm an ass and I don't like requests, so I refused to hand him over."

"But that doesn't explain why Yisou hates him," pointed out Roxanna.

"Hakkai did bad things," Goku said somberly, drawing Roxanna's attention. "He killed a lot of people… Sanzo had to bring him in because he had murdered so many…"

"Wait… Hakkai _killed_?"

"He was once a human being," Gojyo added. "But we don't bring it up for good reason, y'know?"

Roxanna was still on the thought of Hakkai murdering people. Of course, she had seen him do such things… but only somewhat recently. The thought of the kind face twisted in hatred… it wasn't such a trilling prospect.

Back with Sanzo & Hakkai, the former human, remembering the words that Sanzo had said and his own need to protect his friends, spoke then. "I don't care what you have to say to me. I'll take it," the man said, bringing to bear his strength and raised his arm to make sure Sanzo didn't get before him and thus endanger himself. The priest looked at him, accepting the demands and acquiescing. "But I'll never allow you," he continued with a suddenly steadfast conviction, "to lay a finger on these men again."

"Is that so?" murmured Yisou, raising his own hand, but more of a 'oh, really' gesture. "Well, then. If I don't touch them, everything should be all right." His lack of being upset in turn upset Hakkai.

"What?" demanded the one-time-human.

"Everything up to this point was nothing more than foreplay," Chin Yisou said. "Now… Do show me, Cho Gonou." He looked square at the demon slayer. "I want your face twisted in painful pleasure." His eyes glowed with a hypnotic force that pierced Hakkai's consciousness like a pin. The look that Hakkai's face bore was of pain but mostly, it was of shock.

'_He can't be…'_ were his internal thoughts as he clutched at his head in panic. _'No! Please!'_ But the pressure of the force of Yisou's thoughts were too strong. And Hakkai screamed out in pain.

"Hakkai?!" Sanzo exclaimed in worry as he began to move closer. "What the hell did he—"

"Get away from me!" Hakkai shouted, cutting the older man off.

Hakkai would have normally never spoken to Sanzo in such a manner. So, naturally, this threw Sanzo off. "What?" breathed the monk in shock. However, he didn't have much time to contemplate it as Hakkai suddenly tackled him to the forest floor. Soon, his hands were about Sanzo's throat and constricting. Sanzo's pupils contracted, from some variant of fear perhaps. His words were mangled into a strange sound. "Ghck!"

"My arms…" Hakkai said, panicked as he tried to fight them free. _'I can't control them!'_

As his hands strangled the life from Sanzo, horror on his face, Yisou stepped around behind him and observed his latest masterpiece.

"You truly are a fragile being," mused the youkai. "It's blissfully easy to enter a gap in your heart."

"S-stop it!" Hakkai said, unable to tear his eyes from Sanzo's face and his hands.

"Why?" queried Yisou. "You have no objections to murder. Think of it as a single addition to the long list of deaths you have on your soul."

Another of those suddenly too frequent flashbacks consumed Hakkai's world even though his eyes still saw the present and the dwindling time in the hourglass until Sanzo's death at his hands. Flashes of a time that had passed three years before filled his mind.

"...Perhaps you remember now…" mused Yisou. "About me, I mean."

Oh, yes. He did remember Yisou. But he had no concern about that at all. He wanted to loose his hands from Sanzo's throat and kill the bastard that was forcing him to harm his friend.

"I was there when you were reborn, yes?"

Exactly. Yisou had been there when he had 'died' as a human and was 'born' into the world of youkai. And his subsequent demise at the new youkai's claws after taunting him about his sister. Desperately he cried out to the monster: "B-but you should be dead! I _killed_ you! I know I did!"

"Indeed," admitted Yisou. "You ripped me apart quite masterfully. But there was a moment before I passed." He held up a single mahjong tile. "And in that moment… I planted this. Right inside the would you created. Clever, yes?"

The mahjong tiles were his medium for creating shikigami…

'_Then he turned his own corpse into a shikigami?'_

As if hearing the thought, Yisou curled the tile into his fist and spoke. "I wanted to see you again, Cho Gonou." The horror in Hakkai's face was palatable. "I've never truly been attached to anything. You're the first person in my life I've taken an interest in."

"Stop… please!" plead Hakkai desperately.

"I wanted to see your features twisted into insanity."

"No!"

"To hear your desperate cries…"

"Please stop!"

"I want to clutch and destroy it all."

With that, Sanzo's thrashing form suddenly gave one last hacking plea for air before his grip on Hakkai's arm loosened... and fell to the ground. Still.

"San… zo?" breathed Hakkai, unsure, scared… so very scared.

But the priest's eyes had fallen closed… and Hakkai saw that he didn't appear to be breathing. Hakkai, suddenly in control of his own body, lifted his hands away from Sanzo's throat to come up before him. He looked at the hands that killed his friend in mute horror up until…

He clutched at his head and screamed out into the still night, still over Sanzo's body.

"_YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_"

Once that scream died down, Yisou heard a faint rustling sound. "Oh," the shikigami said. "It seems your friends are here. Hakkai didn't twitch, didn't move… it was as if the life was gone from himself as well.

"You're without the will to move?" Yisou murmured to his… interest. Taking one of his hands, he lifted it up over and somewhat behind Hakkai's head to lay his lips upon it. "Then, please allow me. Come. Let's lose everything." The horror on Hakkai's face was quite visible, but Yisou didn't see it or he might have decided that he liked the look and broke Hakkai further. As it was… Hakkai was already hurting deeply.

The trio came through the brush and into the clearing. "Hey! There he is!" exclaimed Goku, having been put down for his being extremely stubborn and refusing to have Gojyo cart him around everywhere.

"Hakkai!" exclaimed Gojyo. "Are you oka—"

At that very moment, the three of them saw…

"…Sanzo?!" shrieked Roxanna, her hands flying to her mouth in clear horror.

"Sanzo!" shouted Goku. "What did he…"

"What the hell's going on?!" Gojyo added in an equally loud voice.

"I…" came the broken voice of Hakkai, attracting their attention. "I k-killed him."

"Huh?" asked a very much bewildered Goku, turning to face his friend.

A fraction of a second after this act, Hakkai landed a blow across the teen's face and sent him sprawling across the clearing.

"Hakkai, what're you doing?!" demanded the kappa, unsure of what to do as to attack or what.

"I wouldn't bother at this point," Chin Yisou said conversationally. "He's one of my dolls now. …See?"

Hakkai's face was not the prettiest picture. His eyes were flat and somewhat narrowed in a malicious visage. He leapt towards Goku with a sadistic smirk in place, far unlike the cheerful put-you-at-ease smiles he usually wore, as chi began to gather into a swirling mass in his hand.

A smile crossed over Yisou's face as Roxanna screamed out "Don't! _Hakkai!_"

In that mere instant that felt like eternity had passed, Hakkai whipped around and threw the amassed chi at the true antagonist of this play at the particular moment.

The blast hit squarely in Yisou's chest, sending him back and forcing blood from his mouth along with a choked 'Wha…' He landed on the ground, still mostly upright as the remainder of Hakkai's chi dissipated back into him.

"What's this?" asked the bewildered shikigami. "You're still of your own mind?!"

There was the sound of a hammer being drawn back along with the very welcome voice uttering the following words: "_He's_ not the one out of his mind." With that, the hammer fell and a gunshot was fired, sending a bullet through Yisou's brain and into the dirt before him as the monster fell forward.

"Sanzo!" exclaimed Goku in relief. "Wait," he said then, coming up short. "You were fakin'? Grr… you can't do that to us." His anger was evident on his face.

"I thought so. Damn," Gojyo said, trying to hide his relief as well.

Roxanna stared at him for a moment before adding her own two cents… yen… whatever… as well as her own method of 'let's see how fast we can get killed by Sanzo'. As he was close enough, she managed to grab him 'round the middle and hugged him before saying quite seriously: "You scared the fucking shit out of us, you asshole! Don't do it again!"

"Shut the hell up and get off!" Sanzo said, clearly embarrassed as he shoved Roxanna off of him before snarling a similar sentiment at the other two, both seemingly impressed by Roxanna's daring.

"Sorry for causing such a fuss!" apologized Hakkai, his grin back to its usual 'I'm a super nice guy and you shouldn't worry about butter melting in my mouth' look.

"Ah," murmured Yisou, standing to reveal the bullet hole square in the middle of his forehead like a garish mockery of Sanzo's chakra. "So you followed Gonou's spontaneous directing?"

"He wasn't putting much effort into strangling me," Sanzo said indifferently. "But besides that…" He reached up to wipe away the blood from the corner of his mouth. "If he were ever forced to really kill me, he'd sooner bite his tongue out and die."

Blatantly, the two of them ignored Goku and Roxanna's comments over Yisou's forehead decoration. Of course, the two were fighting to hide behind each other again seeing as Yisou was being beyond creepy like.

Away from the two youngest, Hakkai spoke up cheerfully with a somewhat mocking applause. "Oh no, Sanzo. It was all your wonderful acting. I had honestly thought I had killed you. Ha ha."

"…Now you're asking for death," spat Sanzo, glaring at the green-eyed man.

"So, my spell didn't affect you," mused Yisou.

"Well, you said so yourself. It's simple to enter a gap in the heart," Hakkai said simply, covering where his own heart would be on his chest. "Unfortunately, my heart isn't big enough to have any gaps. Well…" His tone took on a sad note as did his expression, though his smile never left his face. "It would appear that your estimation of me was royally screwed up." He shifted his hand away from his heart and moved his foot back into a position more capable of fighting rather than his straight up, full-facing posture from a moment before. "Allow me to humbly send you on your way once more."

"Try what you will," Yisou said mockingly. "But do you honestly think you can kill me with chi? I'm not so sure. Perhaps…" He paused and grinned a jester grin. "Perhaps you should remove your limiter to fight me. For old time's sake." Hakkai seemed to at least absorb the words and mull them over a brief second before rushing Yisou.

A startled shout from Goku of Hakkai's name and Sanzo's preventing arm from allowing the monkey to engage Hakkai's personal enemy took a mere second.

And that was all the time required for the demon slayer to grab Yisou's wrist and force the offending appendage up and out of the way, earning a smirking 'oof' from his captive.

"Ha ha!" crowed Yisou. "You've truly lost your mind this time!" It seemed to amuse him even as Hakkai switched from his left hand to his right to hold off the vicious claw of the undead monster.

The switch noticeably confused the demon. "I don't need to remove my limiter," Hakkai informed Yisou. "Manipulating chi…" He began charging the area around his left hand with his life force. "…Has its uses. Three years ago… I tore you open around…" He eyed the spot. "_Here_, am I right?" A sudden thrust of his hand punched through Yisou's torso like it was made of something far less sturdy than flesh and bone. During the travel through to the other side, his hand became coated with blood but, more importantly, it contained a single tile bearing the character for 'life'.

"Cho… Go… nou…?" gasped out Yisou, finding it very hard to speak with the loss of a lung even s blood began to slowly well up his throat. His mahjong point counters still hung from between his teeth.

Hakkai flexed his hand, earning a strange 'shlorp' sound from Yisou's body. "I'm afraid you're mistaken." His eyes were hard. He brought his hand sharply into a fist, shattering the ceramic before jerking his arm out of the corpse and making an even larger hole than before. "My name... is Cho _Hakkai_."

Reflexively, the corpse, now dying from lack of magic rather than lack of blood, clutched at his arm. "…R-really," said Chin Yisou, already falling apart rapidly. "I'm disappointed in y-you."

The quartet stayed in the background as they watched the scene.

"Thank you kindly," Hakkai murmured.

"I thought this would be more f-fun." His flesh was beginning to crackle and dry up before falling off like so much crazed pottery falling to waste.

"Unfortunately, these days I've gotten tired of masochism. The people around me have been an influence, you see." The corpse seemed to be hanging on Hakkai's words. "However red my hands may be stained… blood can always be washed away. That's how we live. All of us."

"Ha ha… Is it, now." The smile on his face seemed to be a grimace. "…I truly hate you from the bottom of my heart. _Cho Hakkai._" He spat the words mockingly. He looked up at Hakkai, mostly having fallen apart. Even his teeth were showing for parts of his lips were falling away. "You're nothing but a hypocrite. You only _smell_ like the living."

Hakkai was still holding Yisou's wrist as he began to speak, shifting the mostly mummified object away from his body. "What a coincidence," he said. "I hate you, too." The shikigami's hand fell apart within his hands, being nothing more than dust on the wind. "Because unlike you… I'm not without a past or a future."

Hakuryuu, sensing the danger was over, flew to his master to check the brunette over for injuries. The group looked to each other. Roxanna avoided Hakkai's gaze as she still was trying to get over the fact that Hakkai of all people was a murderer… well… former, but still.

As they regrouped on the edges of the forest, Hakkai bound Goku's leg with a pair of one-by-twos and a good length of cloth bandages. As he headed away from the group, feeling somewhat hurt by Roxanna's avoidance as she only went over to Goku _after_ he had left them, he pulled out the map to see about where they were going to go.

"Lechy kappa!" shouted Goku indignantly. "Hands off the goods!" When Gojyo didn't desist from his doodling on Goku's splint, Goku tried to fight him off. "I _said_ cut it out!"

"Hee hee," chuckled Gojyo, quite satisfied. "It looks… smashing."

"Why you…!" snarled Goku.

All over Goku's cast, there were such words as 'gimp' and 'lame' and… even more notably… 'stupidest monkey in existence'.

"Thanks a lot, you dumbass kappa!" growled Goku, wishing his leg didn't shoot with pain every time he stood on it.

"Silence or death!" snarled out Sanzo at the lot.

Roxanna was looking at the bandages. "Oh… what in the hell?" She looked over at Gojyo's retreating back. "Hey! I take offense to what's been written here!" She pointed indignantly at Goku's cast.

"How come?" asked Gojyo, turning to look at her.

"Simple! My abuela's got a limp from polio! I do not make fun of her over it!"

"'_Aburera_'?" asked Sanzo, not understanding the Spanish word. Surprisingly, Roxanna did know a few Spanish words… none of them constructive when it came to speaking it fluently.

"Grandmother. And that's 'abuela'. Not whatever you said."

"Oh…" Goku said in revelation, knowing what the word meant. "So 'aburera' means Grandma?"

"No… It's pronounced 'ab-u-e-la'." She crouched down next to Goku, ignoring Gojyo as he walked off. "Now…" she pulled out the magic marker that Goku had in his hands after having it tossed to him by Gojyo. "Here we are…" She signed her own thing on his cast. A smiley face with its tongue out and the words 'Thanks for giving me a chance to write on a cast!' underneath.

"What the heck did you write?!" demanded Goku, having not been able to see the damage because it was written on the back of the cast rather than somewhere he could read it.

"Nothing mean at all. Promise," she said as she capped the marker and handed it to him.

Over at Jiipu, Hakkai and Gojyo were conversing. "You seem well," said the youkai cheerfully. "And how are your injuries?"

"I'm tough. Y'know… Heart, dick, the works." He pulled himself up to sit on top of the hood of the jeep. "What about you? You look like _you're_ the one who got a limb ripped." Hakkai slid up onto the hood of the car as well, contemplating the answer.

"Well, maybe," sighed Hakkai. "In a way, he was like a part of me." _'He was a bit like an apparition of myself… who dragged my past along behind.'_

"About the other day," interrupted Gojyo suddenly. "You asked me why I helped you, right? That time, three years ago… I remember how you looked up at me through the rain. I swear your eyes asked me to kill you. _That's_ why I helped you." He lit a cigarette and took a drag. "I'm an ass," he said conclusively. "If a guy wants to die that bad, I'm not gonna just let 'im."

Hakkai gave his friend an appraising look before speaking a single word. "Gojyo…" There was a hint of laughter in his voice… and a bit of relief as well.

"So now what?" asked Gojyo. "You don't look like you're waiting for death."

"Oh… I guess I'm not, now," Hakkai told him. He looked at his hand and held it up as if to catch the sunlight behind it. "Look at it," he mused. "It would be nice if my lifeline were a bit longer." _'If you'll wait forgive me, Kanan – for just a little while… I would like to live for my own sake.'_

A sudden pressure and sudden words shocked Hakkai out of his thoughts. "Wassat? Hakkai's got a short lifeline?"

"Eek! You surprised me," said the startled demon.

Not at all deterred, Goku continued by popping out his marker. "Hmm… Well, here. I can fix it." One swipe of marker later had a thick black stripe going from the beginning of the crease to the wrist following the lifeline of Hakkai's palm. The smell of Sharpie™ filled the air.

Sanzo was apparently irritated by Goku's lack of Smokey the Bear™ ethics for he was smacking the magic fan of appearing in his other palm. "Oi, chimp. Pick up your trash, or I'll trash you."

"Ah, crap." Goku said, already fearing the might that is Sanzo.

"You do realize he's got a broken leg, right?" Roxanna said as she bent down to pick up the trash. She was stopped a second later by Sanzo's fan on the back of her exposed head. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"He's got to learn his lesson," snapped Sanzo as Goku scrambled over to keep both himself and Ana-chan from being abused further.

"Moron," muttered Gojyo with a laugh.

Hakkai, on the other hand, was staring at the mark on his hand. "Oh dear…" he sighed, earning Gojyo's attention. "This is permanent ink."

"Permanent," echoed Gojyo. "Yeah."

"I suppose it won't be coming off," Hakkai said, bemused.

"Nah… I guess not."

There was a pause as they heard the conversation from the trio under the tree-oh… ((A/N: Snerk))

"My leg needs meat for dinner," Goku stated.

"Nice try," an irritated Sanzo told him.

"How can your leg need meat?" asked Ana. "How did you come up with that?"

"…You got a problem with that?" asked Gojyo.

"So it can heal faster!" Goku said as if it made perfect sense.

"…I suppose I don't," laughed Hakkai even as he covered his eyes with his markered hand, a wry smile on his face.

Away in the lofty places we mere mortals call 'Heaven', Jiroushin spoke. "Blood can be washed. But people spill more blood in order to live. Living by pretty words alone is deception, after all."

"Jiroushin," came Kanzeon Bosatsu's voice even as she gazed down in hi-r pool, drawing hi-r manservant's attention. "Do you know _why_ gods like us live in the Heavens? It's not to look down, hon."

_Don't stop…_

"We're only meant to _watch_."

_...Even if your path is made of corpses._

"We can see the ones who were born to live."

_What is wrong with selfishness and egotism?_

_We live to die smiling, don't we?_

_Mission. Destiny._

_The Cycle of Rebirth._

_Forget them—They've got nothing to do with it._

_Survive._

* * *

Again, Frankenstein is a popular 'ghost story' invented by a young lady. It is about a man known as Dr. Frankenstein and his rather unorthodox creation dubbed 'Frankenstein's monster'.

* * *

** MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

_Volume 4: Chapter 21: Dead_

_Volume 4: Chapter 22: Alive  
_

* * *

_I request at least eight signed reviews to continue, please. And not all from one person. I'm sorry to say, anonymous reviews will not count.  
_

_Don't be mad. I'm just greedy like that. _


	9. VIII: Interlude I

**Disclaimer:** Saiyuki, unfortunately, does not belong to me. I wish it did, though.

* * *

**Reviews: **I asked for eight signed reviews. Well, I got seven and one 'anonymous'. And as I'm sure you're itching to read the story, I had to get up the next chapter. 

Thanks to those who reviewed: **Twilight-to-Nightfall**, glad you liked those lines. I loved them too. I think it is endlessly amusing to get good morals from a book that you don't expect them from. And the Cheese-Whiz part... yes, that was amusing, wasn't it? Goku's such a doll. **Chik-a-Doom**, there will be one definite pairing. As I told you in a message, you will have to wait until the chapter titled 'Pandora III' to find out. And it won't be instant. I like to have some sort of development outside of the basic plot. **Spellcaster Hikaru**, that's just mean. Teasing, teasing. I like Yisou. He's an interesting character that had a lot to do with the 'death' of Cho Gonou and the 'birth' of Cho Hakkai. **Hellscream89**, I have updated. Enjoy. **Risu-san**, thanks for the review and thanks for the review on the shorts. I will definitely get around to doing the one on the cellphones, but I've got others I'd like to post first. **SomeReallyRandomPerson**, I like your pen name! And I most certainly got the idea. Can you hear me laughing? **PhantomoftheBasket**, thanks for your review! And I try really hard to keep them in character. It's really hard... really, really hard. But I guess I'm doing a pretty good job. **FcS**, I believe I answered your question over that. But in review...

Saiyuki can be purchased in several bookstores: Barnes & Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, etc.

It can also be purchased online at retail places such as: Amazon, Anime Castle, E-Bay, etc. Just make sure that the site is legit. I assure you Anime Castle most certainly is.

* * *

**Chapter VIII: Interlude I**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Every now and again, there will be an 'Interlude', well… that's got 'hopefully' tagged in there somewhere. These parts contain pieces of story not as important as the rest and, subsequently, mostly made up. It allows for interaction between the characters more. People have been asking for stuff like this.  
_

Roxanna was bored. Really… really bored. She had learned the attacks she had come to call 'Charged Palms', 'Static Cling', and 'Bug Zapper'. In other words… the first one she learned to keep her hands charged and then discharge when hitting an opponent. The second one was more for prank purposes… static cling was sooo much fun. And the third was the one she stumbled upon when attacked by Yisou by filling her entire body with electricity.

Sadly, all of this practicing made her hungrier than she really wanted…

And had gotten her several complaints from the trash compactor. Goku… If you couldn't figure it out.

But back to the story.

She was bored.

Very, very, _very_ bored.

Why was she bored?

They had decided to stop at a hotel for the night (as they had reached the next town a little over two days later) and now Goku and Gojyo were downstairs pigging out and Sanzo was making sure that they didn't either break something or cause too much of a fuss… Hakkai was with them.

She really didn't want to be near Hakkai right now.

It wasn't that he was mean to her. She was still trying to digest that very difficult lump of information that Gojyo had given her.

Hakkai had murdered people.

She was sure there was a good reason. There had to be a good reason. But what kind of reason?

What kind of reason would justify killing someone?

"That depends on your point of view, I suppose."

She was also quite unaware of the fact that she had spoken her previous thought out loud. Turning, she looked across the room to the one man she wasn't sure what to think about… okay, one of the men. The other being Sanzo. That one was a head case.

Hakkai looked uncomfortable, unsure of himself.

It was a pose that Roxanna had never seen him use. She looked down at her hands, knotted them in her lap.

"Mind if I…?" asked Hakkai, gesturing at the bed opposite her.

"If you want…" she said quietly. Taking the invitation, Hakkai closed the room's door and shooed Hakuryuu off his shoulder towards Roxanna.

The little dragon took the hint and flew over to the Latina, settling on her shoulder before nuzzling her. She twitched slightly, but didn't look up or stop her progressive knotting of her hands.

"I believe I have some explaining to do," Hakkai said, settling down on the bed.

"…" She maintained her silence. She had no idea what to say, really.

He looked down, though she only partially saw movement. Not much else. He looked at his hands. The stripe that Goku had put there was beginning to fade. While permanent ink had its places, on hands was one of the last places it stayed. "You've no doubt heard some things about what I did in the past. Your words are evidence enough…" His words were awkward and unwieldy to his ears as he groped for the right ones to speak.

She looked up, her mouth open to speak. However, his suddenly upraised hand was enough to stay her into silence. "Please, let me finish, Rox-anna-dono. What I'm trying to say is, while I may not have done anything remotely right by killing those people… At least I can tell you why I did it. The tribe of youkai Chin Yisou was from… his father… was a well known womanizer of the worst sort, so to speak. It was known that he liked to use his women then eat them. And when my sister was _given_ to those demons to keep them from stealing away any of the other villagers' precious daughters… I'm afraid I was very angry at their actions. They had given up my sister…" He hesitated, fighting his own emotions.

"You don't have to tell me. Family bonds are very powerful," reassured Roxanna.

"Please… let me finish… she wasn't just my sister," he said, the words thick with emotion, his eyes never meeting hers. "She was my lover…"

Roxanna was silent for a long moment.

"Okay… why didn't your parents object?" she asked, trying to wrap her mind around _that_ proclamation.

"We were orphans… raised in separate orphanages…"

"How did you know she was your sister?" she had to ask.

"Some things you know…" sighed Hakkai. "But in my case, we knew each other quite well before we had been separated."

"And why did you… uh.." The question faltered. That was just weird. But it was beginning to make sense. In some sick, twisted way… that is…

"We weren't even really sure."

Roxanna went to a psychologist before. Perhaps so her parents could fix whatever went wrong in her brain… But the doctor would have said something about this along the lines of: 'As far as I can see, the young man and woman were deprived of much love so went to the most available source for that love and, seeing as they both hungered for loving touches, naturally this went down somewhat socially unacceptable paths.' And then said psychiatrist would pull out that nifty notepad and write some prescriptions to the person who needed them.

"Oh…"

"It was during the time I was trying to save her that I became youkai. In fact, Yisou was the one that was there… the thousandth youkai."

The clueless look must have been on her face for he then explained the 'myth' about the human and the thousand youkai.

"Oh…"

"Yes…"

She puzzled over this new information. Once processed, digested, and filed away for future reference, she looked up. "And after everything you did? Did you save her?"

"No. She committed suicide the moment after I found her. She had been raped… and didn't want to see the child."

"There are sooo many things I could say to that…" drawled Roxanna, disgusted with the idea of suicide.

"And what things would that be?" asked Hakkai, curious, and somewhat feeling better for some reason.

"Most are bitchy and derogatory. The biggest one would be 'stupid bint for choosing suicide when there are other ways to kill an unborn fetus'. And I'm censoring my words."

Hakkai looked somewhat upset. "She wasn't thinking strait—"

"Obviously. She threw her life away. If there's one thing God hates more than anything is someone that is willing to kill themselves."

She knew she was being rude and obnoxious.

She knew she was totally out of line.

What she didn't know was exactly when Hakkai would pop.

"Now that is out of line, Rox-anna-dono!" protested Hakkai, standing and an almost vision of anger.

Of course, naturally, she didn't know what the hell she was doing, but she was… for some reason… damned determined to make Hakkai snap at her and be angry at her visibly. She knew it was like having a grenade in your hands with the pin pulled. But she was a dogged little bitch.

She stood as well in response to his own actions.

"Oh, really?" she snapped. "Why are you defending her? She ditched your ass because of a baby that _could_ have been that asshole's!"

"You have no right to speak of her that way!" Hakkai's voice was trembling with anger. "You didn't know her. You never will!" His hands were balled at his sides.

That damn grenade was about to explode… and she went and figuratively put it in her mouth.

"Probably a damn fine thing, too," snarled Roxanna, really pushing it. "Obviously, she didn't know who the baby belonged to. I'm betting you two were a lot closer than you'd like me to believe. Who knows if it even was his? Did you ever think that maybe she was being a little presumptuous and killed _your_ child?"

The startled look on Hakkai's face was priceless.

Time to defuse the grenade…

…How does one do that?

She was about to find out… hopefully intact.

"But honestly, perhaps it was better she died. After all. You'd still be that other person… You wouldn't have met Gojyo, Goku, Sanzo… You wouldn't have met me. You wouldn't have been featured in a comic book. You wouldn't have fans that admire you. You wouldn't be anything more than a 'somebody' lost in the crowd."

She paused and folded her arms and looked down. "Because you're the kind of person that wouldn't let someone else carry a mantle as heavy as the one you're carrying by being on this journey. I bet you spoke for me when I couldn't speak Chinese or Japanese. I'm fairly sure you did. You do so much for this group, because of one incident that brought you to Gojyo. He did say he had saved you… after all…

"You're a sane part of Sanzo's day. You're Gojyo's best friend. You act like the family I'm fairly sure Goku's never had… and you've…" She trailed off and sighed, throwing her hands up in the air as a gesture of frustration. "Get pissed. Get sad. Get whatever." She slapped her hands down against her thigh, making a satisfying sting in her hands and thighs. "But make sure to show it. Friends are there for a reason. Even if they try and pretend they don't want to hear." After a moment, the arms made their way up again and twined with each other against her chest.

Hakkai stared at her. This teenage girl seemed lost and alone, with her arms folded over her chest. She was innocent yet wise, a strange combination. She had deliberately made him angry through insulting Kanan… and then… diffused it with images of his friends.

"Sorry I avoided you." That was her voice speaking to him. "It's just… I tend to get distant when I'm trying to understand something… y'know?"

"I don't but I understand the sentiment," Hakkai said to her, a gentle smile on his lips. "Thank you, Rox-anna-dono."

"As most everyone at this point calls me 'Ana' something or other, you might as well, too, Hakkai."

"Of course… Ana-dono."

"Isn't it nice to have less syllables?" she asked mischievously. "Saves time when it comes to calling names."

"I'd never call you a name, Ana-dono…"

"Oh, you may yet do so. People have this unnerving habit of trying to call me some of the nastiest names at times." She shrugged, sending the tiny dragon up before bringing him back down. "The world works in strange ways… I've given up on trying to understand it."

"I see…"

"Don't. You won't like the craziness. I promise." Her stomach gave a sudden growl. "I'm starved…" she pouted.

"You have been getting hungrier lately," Hakkai said as he started escorting Ana out of the room. As they headed through the hall and to the stairs, Ana shrugged again with strikingly similar results like last time. Hakuryuu went up… and down.

"I've been practicing my lightning a lot. I might actually become a full-fledged member soon!"

Hakkai laughed. "Don't worry, Ana-dono. You are most certainly full-fledged all ready. You've managed to annoy Sanzo into hitting you with the fan!" he teased.

"Where does he keep it anyway?" asked Ana.

"Well… We're still not sure…"

"Oh… I bet it drives Goku and Gojyo mad to not be able to steal it away."

"Pardon me for changing the subject, but… why did you say those things?"

"About…?" She looked up at him and saw the look on his face. "Oh… Well…" He waited patiently for an answer. His eyes demanded for it. "I sorta saw that you were beating yourself up on the inside… Shoulda, woulda, coulda… I should have done this. I would have done that. I could have…" She shook her head. "In cases like the one you described to me… I can pretty much guarantee you were suffering from survivor's guilt. I had seen it before. Lydia, my cousin, was in a car accident with a bunch of her friends. She was the only one who survived when they got ploughed. She blamed herself even though she wasn't the driver of either vehicle… I yelled at her, provoked her… even when everyone told me to not do it. I got the desired result of her attacking me because I had vigorously insulted her boyfriend, the driver." She shrugged. "She needed a way to release her anger and her guilt. I probably didn't need a black eye, but after she hit me… well… I apologized and told her why I did it. That sort of thing is out of everyone's hands, I told her. It helped. She didn't date for the next year, but she did get back on her feet the year after. It helped her move on."

Hakkai looked at her for a long moment. His lips, which had fallen into a somber expression at the beginning of her explanation, twitched upwards. "So, the entire situation was out of my hands, you say?" _'Even though I had killed?'_

"Uh, huh. If you were ever really tried in court, it would be easy to say temporary insanity. You were no doubt thinking of getting to your sister. When there was imposed resistance… well… you reacted pretty much accordingly. A straight line's better than a wandering path." Ana looked up at him. "Can we drop this? I'm getting tired of trying to spew a bunch of psychologist crap."

"I'd say you were doing rather well," complimented Hakkai, his smile now fully back.

"What the hell are you two doing?" demanded Sanzo, having appeared at the head of the stairs. His violet eyes pierced them both, though Ana was a bit more uncomfortable than Hakkai under the gaze.

"Just speaking to each other, Sanzo," Hakkai said simply. "We were working some things out."

Ana's stomach gave a plaintive whine. She blushed as both men looked at her in amusement and gripped her tummy as if to silence the beast.

Hakkai looked back to Sanzo. "We were also going to get her some food."

Sanzo grunted in response and shoved past them to get to the rooms that they had rented. Ana looked at Hakkai and Hakkai looked at her.

They shared a smile as if to say 'That's Sanzo' and headed downstairs to eat.

Goku and Gojyo were still at the table even though the food was all gone. Gojyo had turned to flirt with the pretty waitress and Goku was looking through the dishes to see if there was any food that he might have missed.

"Excuse me," Hakkai said, interrupting Gojyo's advances, which earned him a dark look. "But might you get the young lady here something to eat?" he asked.

"Sure!" chirped the waitress. "And what would you like?"

"Something halfway Americanized," muttered Ana. Everyone blinked at the statement. She sighed. "Can I have something that's already cooked and has beef in it?"

"There's several things like that… what would you like?"

Ana looked rather blank. Hakkai, seeing her distress, intervened and ordered something that Ana wasn't sure of how to pronounce. In America, it might have constituted as a strange sneeze. The waitress went off with the order, Gojyo's eyes following after her.

"I need to learn all this stuff," sighed Ana, dropping down to sit at the table. Hakuryuu let out a 'kyuu' at the movement.

"Don't worry!" chirped Goku. "You'll get it, Ana-chan!"

"Eventually…"

"Why the hell did you interrupt?" demanded Gojyo of Hakkai.

"Because I thought it was more important that Ana-dono get food," Hakkai said to the kappa in a rather patient tone.

"'Sides, Hakkai ordered you something good! Can I have a bite of it when it comes out?" asked Goku.

"Um. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try and eat it all, Goku," Roxanna said, a bit embarrassed.

"…Can I have the leftovers?"

"Sure…"

After dinner, Ana left the table. She was about to go back upstairs, but sidestepped to speak with Hakkai one-on-one. Ana realized she needed certain supplies, and very soon. Hakkai turned red when she finally managed to somewhat outline exactly what she needed, but agreed to go and help her get the things she needed.

She was glad she and Hakkai had talked… Earlier, that is. She was still wary about him… but that was only natural, she guessed. It was hard to tell what he was thinking underneath that smile at times. Well… scratch that. Most all the time would be far more accurate.

She entered the room she was to sleep in… the same room as before. There were three beds and one of them would go to her. The other, it seemed, would go to Sanzo as he was sitting on the bed closest to the window. The same bed where she was sitting earlier and had put her bag. Now her bag was on the opposite bed.

"Y'know…" she said, garnering his attention. "I put my stuff there for a reason."

"Get over it," grunted Sanzo, going back to his paper and smoking his cigarette.

She put her hands on her hips. Okay… he was being an ass. But she was a bitch. A grade 'A' bitch. And she wasn't going to just let him push her around. Again with the grenade in the mouth, she went over and grabbed his bags before putting them on the third bed which happened to be closest to the wall which separated them from the other room.

He looked at her with a scowl as if to say 'What the fuck are you doing?'

She pointed at it. "That is your bed. I claimed the one your ass is on. Move, priest." Her face was a picture of annoyance and anger. So was his, but more finely tuned.

"And what makes you think I'll be sleeping there?"

"Because I said so." Her hand never wavered from pointing at the bed.

Her obstinacy was only earning her Sanzo's own stubbornness.

"And why is that?"

"Because," Roxanna began before pausing and then grinning wickedly. "Boys have to do what girls say. If they don't do what girls say to do, they don't get any."

It took a moment for Sanzo to work his way through that line of logic but when he did, he glared at her. "You're worse than Gojyo."

"I'm better than Gojyo," chirped Ana with a cheerier grin. "Because I'm nice and innocent and he's dirty and well… not so innocent. Besides, it explains perfectly why Tim is such a whipped dog around his girlfriend."

Sanzo stared at her.

Ana looked at him. Deciding to use her final weapon, she said to him: "I will be sleeping in that bed. Whether or not your ass is in it is completely up to you. I've made my decision because I like being near windows." She dropped her arm down and rested her hand against her hip. "What do you say?"

He didn't have to say much of anything, it seemed, as he stood and stepped over to her. His face was quite the picture for he had, out of context, heard something that sounded like an invitation. His face was twisted with the emotions of anger, annoyance, and disgust. His eyes were hard as amethyst, glittering dangerously as he looked down at her. Roxanna was, in American terms, five inches shorter than Sanzo. That meant that she was almost a whopping 13 centimeters shorter than him. She wasn't exactly looking at him square in the eye. She had to tilt her head back to do that.

The priest looked down at her staring defiantly up at him. He didn't want to give on the principal that he was the so-called 'leader' and that she was not very intimidating… even with the lightning.

"Well?" asked the irritating bitch before him.

"You are not going to sleep on that bed, you hear?" he said in a deadly soft voice. "You will sleep where I put your bag or you will be sleeping outside. I don't give a fuck what you think or what you do. But you will be doing as I say as long as you are with this group."

She was not going to give up so easily even though she was not exactly seeing kittens and daisies in his eyes. And his toes were so damn close. Ana took the initiative and carefully shifted her foot over top Sanzo's.

Pressing down so she caught his toes but not actually stomping them, she looked up at him sweetly. "Pretty please?" she 'asked'. His eye was noticeably gaining a tic in his irritation.

"Fuck no," he said, jerking his foot out from beneath hers and giving her the fan treatment for her irritation.

"Ow!" she yipped, her hands coming to defend her face and head from any more blows. The damn fan hit the top of her head again, partially catching her fingers. "Stoppit!" she shouted.

"Then choose a different fucking bed, brat." He moved past her to grab his bags and take them back to the bed he had claimed.

"You… you…" She spun and then spat out the next words in English, her anger was so great. "Stupid ass mother fucking sonavabitch!"

"I don't know what the hell you just said," Sanzo said, turning and looking at her. "But it better not have been something to shoot you over."

"You're an asshole!" she spat in Chinese, very much irritated by him as well. "Why can't you be nice like Goku?"

"Because I'm not Goku."

"I noticed! Goku's sweet and kind! You are just a mean soul that doesn't care whether or not the world damn well hates him!" Her words were biting and she was beginning to cry because of her anger. Balling her fists at her side in a desperate attempt to keep from punching him, she said her final words. "I'm guessing you don't even give a damn that I was starting to think of you as my friend!"

She spun and grabbed her bag.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Sanzo. She didn't answer and marched out of the room. There was no way in hell that she was going to sleep in the same room as that jerk. She really would rather sleep outside.

However that idea was shot down the second after she had closed the door. Goku was there, looking rather sheepish. "Uh… I heard… sorry."

She stared at him for a moment before dropping the bag and hugging the slightly shorter teen. Relief filled her body as she was able to loose the tears completely onto his shoulder. "Ana-chan?" asked Goku, awkwardly patting her back.

Roxanna personally didn't know what was wrong with her. All they argued over was one stinking bed. But it felt like he had done a lot worse than reject her idea of sleeping arrangements. But all she could guess at was that the reason he had made her feel so bad was…

She really didn't want to think about it.

After she had finished crying her eyes out, she realized that Hakkai and Gojyo had appeared as well. Both looked concerned and considering the lack of a certain priest… they could guess why her eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

Sleeping arrangements were soon sorted out. Roxanna and Sanzo would most certainly sleep in separate rooms.

And in a surprising act of vengeance, the three men decided that in the second bed of Roxanna's new room would be Hakkai. The other two would be sleeping in the beds in Sanzo's room. Normally, this sort of thing would be highly volatile and undesirable. This time, the 'highly volatile' part was something they were all counting on to punish Sanzo for his lack of social skills.

Their plan was enacted and it wasn't until one in the morning when things finally settled down enough in Sanzo's room to have everyone sleep. Up until that point some 'minor' things happened.

Gojyo and Goku fought, bringing the fan to bear.

Gojyo drew on Goku's good leg, which brought upon more fighting, which again brought the fan to bear.

Goku threw something that was unfortunately breakable and owned by the inn, which brought more fan smacking about.

Gojyo and Goku tried to engage in a 'friendly' game of poker, but Gojyo's blatant cheating got Goku riled up and therefore… this time there was the threat of a gunshot or two.

And on it went.

The plan was masterful, Sanzo was super surly the next morning when they all got up bright and early to leave. Roxanna was feeling considerably better as she had fallen to sleep thanks to the helpful induction of drugs into her system. Tylenol PM™ was a wonderful thing. And Hakkai had had some. He had also taken two of the blue pills and both were very happy with the way the morning was turning out… with only sympathetic glances in Gojyo and Goku's direction. Both were exhausted, but as neither had to drive, it wasn't imperative that they were awake. After a short stop at a shop for the supplies that Ana needed, they were on the road.

Sanzo was looking rather exhausted as well. While Hakkai shot him worried glances that were more out of concern of explosions, Roxanna couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. She wanted to say she was sorry for having caused so much trouble, but when the monk threw her a dark look as if to say 'I'm blaming you', Ana shut down all feelings of sympathy. He was an ass. But why in the hell was she still feeling sorry for what she had done?

That day passed somewhat uneventfully. Both Gojyo and Goku took to using her shoulders as pillows. Goku she wanted to shove off because he was drooling slightly on her shoulder. But she managed to tolerate it… mostly. Gojyo was just buried up against her. In the front seat, Sanzo was dozing somewhat, but Hakkai was happily keeping him awake by chattering to the irate monk. That meant, Sanzo wasn't getting any rest and therefore he was being even more sleep-deprived.

Ana's eyelids drooped down and she fell asleep with a sigh.

Hopefully Goku would have a healed leg, soon. Hopefully Sanzo would stop being an ass.

The first hope was easy to have happen as Goku healed fairly fast. The second was near impossible as Sanzo seemed to have a permanent 'fuck you and fuck the world, too' brand on his ass.

Hakkai glanced in the back mirror and smiled. Those three were something else. All three were pretty much propped up by each other. Roxanna was being held up by Goku and Gojyo. And they were being held up by her.

Sanzo slipped into a dose in the front seat and Hakkai left him be. It would be detrimental to one's health if they kept bugging him, after all.

Humming lightly under his breath, Hakkai continued to drive. The only other awake companion was Jiipu… ah, blessed silence… Too bad Sanzo was too tired to enjoy this.

The rest of the day was uneventful, to which the Sanzo-ikkou was quite grateful, indeed.

They set up camp in the wilderness (having woken up when Hakkai kindly stomped the brakes to wake them up a minute before they actually stopped). Of course, camp pretty much consisted of a fire to cook with, a meal, and going to sleep in the Jeep because they had no room for supplies like tents and sleeping bags in their traveling companion. They were more concerned about having enough food and drink, cigarettes, proper cooking utensils, bullets, clothes… and for Gojyo they had to have porn. Gojyo, who is the world's biggest pervert, might have enjoyed it if Roxanna had consented to some one-on-one time, but as neither brought it up and he only teasingly flirted with her, it seemed like he knew that they couldn't have a relationship and survive the horrors of Sanzo if it went wrong.

About two weeks later, they came upon a group of youkai and all of them were very much interested in fighting the ikkou.

There were about thirty, which meant that there were six per person. Naturally, the male members of the ikkou watched out for Ana so she wouldn't be killed. Okay, three of the four male members of the ikkou watched after Ana so she wouldn't be killed. Sanzo wasn't all that concerned thanks to the events that he was still sore about.

She wasn't very good at fighting hand-to-hand, so she relied heavily on the power within her in order to fight. The result was virtually charbroiled corpses. And she fought mainly on defensive, too.

To cut the fight short, Ana managed four of her six opponents. Naturally, the rest of the ikkou had managed their own opponents and had kindly taken out the two that Ana hadn't taken care of. It was an accomplishment, they felt. The Latina-Caucasian felt quite different.

She knew what it was like to kill now… And the thought… well, it sickened her.

Gojyo, who was closest when she collapsed to her knees with eyes unseeing, went to her. The girl's form was trembling when he touched her and she flinched away from him and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Ana-kun?" he asked, worried. She didn't speak. She didn't know how at the moment. The adrenaline that had kept her sane during the battle had drained from her and she didn't know what to do. There were bodies of blackened flesh and burned hair near her and she could smell them. Unlike the others' tactics, she burned her opponents rather than blasting them apart or shooting them with minimal mess. The other corpses smelled of blood. Hers made her gag.

She turned away and did just that. Retching, she threw up breakfast.

Hakkai came close as did Goku. Both cared for the most innocent of their group, just as Gojyo did. Sanzo seemed to be indifferent, but he too worried. Women were a great deal different than men when it came to killing, it seemed. Perhaps being the ones to create life, they are innately against taking it.

He kept these thoughts to himself as Hakkai rubbed Ana's back and Goku hovered on the sidelines. Hakkai ordered Goku to go get the water bottle so she could wash out her mouth. Ana also begged for her toothbrush and tooth paste… as well as a very quick move away from the area so she didn't have to see the dead youkai anymore.

After the girl had managed to get to her feet, Hakkai pulled a mother hen act and was continuously hovering over her. Gojyo was basically shoved to one side and watched awkwardly as the green-eyed demon helped her over to the Jeep. He looked at Sanzo who was standing out of the way and casually smoking a cigarette. He went over to the priest, wondering what kind of stick was up his ass.

"What do you want?" demanded Sanzo, looking at Gojyo.

"What the hell is your problem? The girl just puked and you're acting like an ass."

"She's a hindrance. Best to not get involved," 'explained' Sanzo. He took another drag of his cigarette.

"Ana-kun isn't a hindrance!" snarled Gojyo, wishing desperately to hit the idiotic priest. "She just hasn't ever had to kill!" His fists, balled at his sides, were shaking with anger.

Goku looked over at them and frowned. But Ana-chan was more important at the moment as Hakkai said she seemed to be in shock.

Sanzo gave him a flat look, not wanting to even deal with the kappa at the moment. His eyes flicked over to Ana who was vigorously scrubbing her teeth and tongue with the green plastic toothbrush before shooting a bit more toothpaste into her mouth and then resuming her ardent task of scrubbing the enamel off her teeth. Her eyes were pointedly screwed shut against the scene around them.

"It's not my damn fault," spat Sanzo, looking at Gojyo once more. He pointedly squashed the worry that was threatening to well up and make him go check on the girl. It wasn't like he was a heartless bastard. He was just unwilling to allow himself to go and be a damn softie if the girl wasn't even fit to fight and may get killed. He didn't want to open his heart and find himself hurt over the loss of another person in his life.

((A/N: Ah, the psychology of Sanzo… a difficult subject indeed.))

The Sanzo moved away from Gojyo and went over to the Jeep. Giving Ana a small glare, he settled into his seat. Ana wasn't at all concerned with his feelings as she spat out the contents of her mouth out onto the ground outside Jiipu.

"Feeling better now?" asked Hakkai worriedly, his smile not at all present.

"A little," Ana said, settling back more into the Jeep. She patted the side of the transformed dragon. "Sorry if I got toothpaste on you, Hakuryuu."

The car gave off a comforting 'kyuu' in response. Hakkai smiled a little. She must be feeling better, but she still looked a bit wan from her death giving experience.

"It would… probably be best if we helped you with your fighting skills, Ana-dono," Hakkai said. "You left yourself open far too many times for my comfort. And I'd rather not see you killed."

"Yeah…" Ana chuckled dryly. "I'm pretty sure that Tim would hate you all for letting me die."

"Who's Tim?" asked Goku, curious. He also had the unintended effect of taking Ana's mind off of the fight.

"My brother," explained Ana. "His full name is…" She reoriented herself back into English. "Timothy Octavio Sanchez."

"That's a weird name!" laughed Goku.

"That's the way we say our names."

"What's yours?" asked Gojyo, dropping to sit next to her in the Jeep.

"Roxanna Marie Sanchez."

Now Goku was confused as Hakkai began to drive. "But you have the same name!"

"Huh?" Roxanna focused desperately on the conversation as the scenery began to change. "You mean… oh… that's right. You order your names different. Well… um… most Europeans say their given names first and their family name last. My given names are Roxanna and Marie. My family name is Sanchez. My papa's family was from a country called 'Cuba' and my mama's maiden name was 'Greer'. I like Sanchez quite a bit, when I think of the idea of being called 'Roxanna Greer'."

It was pure babble, but it did the trick. Ana was feeling much calmer now that she was beyond the edges of the battle scene.

She remained somewhat rattled the rest of the day and slept fitfully in the night.

However, fates conspired against her when she prayed that there wouldn't be another fight the next day.

"Again?" asked Gojyo rhetorically. There were more youkai standing before them, intent on killing them all. This time, the group was a bit larger. There were more than thirty, most certainly.

Ana let out a small whine in the back of her throat. Hearing it, Hakkai looked at her. "You don't have to fight, you know." There was a sympathetic look in his eyes.

Ana was partially compelled to take up his offer. However, there was a slight problem with that. She didn't know how long she would be with them. She had no idea how dangerous the road they took might become. And therefore, she didn't want to be defenseless thanks to her squeamishness.

"I have to…" she mumbled, her eyes apprehensive.

Sanzo heard the words and was impressed despite his best efforts. After the incident yesterday, he'd assume that she would have avoided battle again at all costs. Hakkai had offered her an easy way out and she pushed it aside.

They left the jeep and readied themselves for combat. Hakkai had a quiet word with Gojyo and the hanyou nodded. The two agreed that Gojyo would stay close and watch Ana's back to make sure she didn't lose her head and get unnecessarily hurt.

The youkai came and Roxanna filled her body with electricity. It was bad luck that the first one that had made it to her fell by her negatively-charged form and when he completed the circuit to the ground, he was instantly fried. Roxanna was wearing rubber-soled boots and thus was a self-contained circuit as she was off the ground by three and a half centimeters.

The badly burned body fell to the ground, spasms making it twitch. But she had no time to focus as the next two came at her, one holding a sword. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw the blade come down and managed to get away from it just enough, but still received a small slash on her arm. The moment the sword connected, it behaved as a lightning rod and the electricity arced to it and through the body holding it. The scream of pain from the youkai as well as her own echoing scream etched in her mind as the others had, all too similar. The second youkai stumbled in his attack for this seemingly innocent and unprotected girl was frying his allies.

He began to backpedal, wanting rather to fight the red-haired hanyou fighting nearby than to face the girl that had killed two of his buddies. But she couldn't let him go. He was her opponent now and adrenaline was pumping through her body. She curled her fist and swung at him, the negative particles in her body racing to collect at her fist and lavender lightning sparking.

He dodged and she missed but brought her other hand to bear and managed contact for the briefest of seconds. It was enough to burn his side where she had brushed it, getting a shout of pain for her trouble. "Fuckin' bitch!" snarled the youkai, intent on killing her now for his pain.

He dove at her and she felt claws bite her arm. The same arm that had blood running down it. Damn. They were trying to kill her arm and not the rest of her it seemed.

But her 'Bug Zapper' technique saved her as his hand came away burnt and angry red. The flesh was cracked and peeling, oozing blood and sudden plasma. It was a third-degree burn. There was no pain. Only shock as the nerve endings were so completely fried that he couldn't feel the burns on his hand but in the ends of the nerves that were still functioning somewhere around the middle of his forearm.

"I'm sorry," she said as his eyes widened with terror. With that, she grabbed his face and a second later, his brain was cooked and he was dead. The twitching corpse fell to the ground, a burn in the shape of a handprint on his face.

She gagged at the vision and turned to deal with the next angry youkai.

They were beginning to see her as a threat, it seemed. She dealt with the female youkai and felt like crying. One more youkai later and she ground to a stop. Glancing around, she looked at the scene.

Gojyo had taken care of his 'fair share' and so had Goku. Sanzo was lazily firing his gun, dropping the ones too far to conveniently reach. Hakkai was finishing off the last as well and there were corpses everywhere. She had killed five of… no, wait… six. When had she killed that last one? Adrenaline must have blurred her mind to the point she had no idea. Red blood was dripping down her arm. Crap.

Clutching at the bigger of the wounds on her left arm, she felt bruised all over.

"You okay?" asked Gojyo, not seeing the blood but when he did he immediately shouted, "Hakkai!"

Hakkai looked over and saw the youngest of the group looking faint. This time, it was more from blood loss than having killed. No doubt she would freak about killing later but he was more concerned about the blood dripping down onto the ground.

Once all the youkai had been killed, he came over and used his chi on her arm. He could only heal the sword wound as that one was the most serious and he was a bit tired from the fight. "Better now?" he asked.

"Yeah," gulped Roxanna. Her right hand had blood all over it and the fluid wasn't from her opponents.

"I can't do any more right now. I'm sorry," he apologized. "The others may scar."

Sanzo came over and observed her condition as well as her enemies. Six she had killed. Not as many as the rest of them, but he supposed that was to be expected. She was new at all of this.

Then Gojyo decided to bring up a point. "This is the second time in two days. Talk about unlucky, huh?"

"Hmm…" mused Hakkai. He had pulled out first aid supplies and was patching up Roxanna as best as he could. Triple antibiotic was applied to the bandages to prevent infection. The girl needed fighting lessons so she could at least avoid getting hurt. He then sighed once he tied off the bandage. Ana looked at him curiously, wondering why he was so melancholy sounding. Catching her look, he smiled out of reflex. "I'm just trying to see when we can start training you to fight, Ana-dono," he told her. "I don't like having to patch you up."

"Me neither," muttered the eighteen-year-old girl. She wanted to do nothing more than curl up and cry somewhere about being so far from home. This wasn't what she wanted at all.

The next day, unfortunately…

"Damn," Sanzo swore the moment after he had pulled his cigarette from his lips. "Are we in a campaign week I wasn't aware of?"

"This is the third day in a row," Hakkai said thoughtfully.

"The 'Kill Sanzo and Company with Fervor and Zeal' tour," joked Gojyo as his cigarette bobbed in his mouth. "I at least want a tour guide with some T and A."

"I'm not playing tour guide, then," Ana said, looking at the depressing sight before her.

"Hey!" chirped Goku. "Tours come with food, don't they?"

"Ha ha!" chuckled Hakkai, slapping his fist into his palm as Hakuryuu shifted his position slightly. "Perhaps the whole issue of 'food' is where our part comes in."

"That is—"

"Eew!" Goku cut in. "I don't get eaten—I eat."

"—Disgusting…" finished Ana. "I'm with Goku on that one…"

"So, what's the guest list?" asked Gojyo.

"Twenty couples or so. Quite a party," joked Hakkai.

"All right, Goku," Sanzo said, dropping his fag. "Then how many do we each get?"

"Um… right! 'Bout eight apiece!"

"Ha ha!" Hakkai laughed. "Very well done!"

"I'm so not looking forward to this," whined Ana, her bandaged arm twinge-ing in sympathy.

Almost on cue, the masses started screaming forward with their own cries of defiance.

"Stay near, Ana-dono! That way we can watch your back!" Hakkai said to her over the din of noise.

"Okay!" acknowledged the Latina. The first were beginning to get within range and she was afraid. Desperately afraid. The others looked like they were dancers when they fought and she felt like someone with an amputated foot in comparison. As Sanzo took out the first and Gojyo quickly removed the second, Goku bashed the third and Hakkai blasted the fourth. Goku was on his second by the time that Ana had to engage her first opponent.

With a quickly whispered apology, she managed to fry the woman that had come too close. The smell of burned flesh and hair filled the air, making her gag but she fought down the feeling for she couldn't just lose it in the middle of a battle. Nearby, Hakkai stole as many glances as he could to make sure she didn't get in too deep. Goku was lost to the fervor of battle and was having a blast as he fought and Sanzo was too busy making sure he was hitting his targets.

The priest was having a bit of trouble for the demons were moving quite a bit. He hit his targets, usually, but not always in the vital areas.

Gojyo had no such problems as he usually dismembered his enemies with the fearsome Shakujou. He was making puns every now and then. Or rather, Hakkai assumed they were puns as his mouth was working and forming words and there were sounds but the human-turned-youkai wasn't focusing on what Gojyo was saying for it wasn't directed at him.

He glanced at Ana and saw that she had taken out another. It was really horrid how she was forced to fight. That power of hers wasn't suited to her in some ways, after all. But then again, it was probably safer for her to have that electricity rather than a weapon of any form. At least this way she could reasonably defend all sides and once she was taught how to fight, she would be quite devastating.

Another fell to his hands. He was almost through. Four down. Halfway there.

A glance at Ana in the tiny pause was enough to tell him she had zapped another as well. She was keeping up. She was getting better. Not by much. Most of her kills were flukes. Another two were killed with a chi blast. Six down.

"DERYAAAA!" Goku shouted as he took out two at once. "HA!" The chimp was having entirely too much fun, it seemed. The two he killed were dropped to the ground and his Sanseskon rejoined to reform his Bo. "Yaaay!" hurrahed Goku. "I'm all done."

Roxanna heard the call as lightning arced from between her form and the two demons that decided to play the twin lightning rods from cheesy Frankenstein movies. They fell twitching to the ground like the other four she had managed to kill. Six… two more to fight… crap.

"Look at that," wondered Hakkai with a sweetheart-like expression of surprise. "Those who specialize in eating _do_ have abnormal strength. Wouldn't you agree?" He said this conversationally to the two he had just used his elbows on to smash them in the throats.

"Gagh!" gagged one and the other made an odd "Hyckk!" sound as they collapsed.

"Oh, and I may be a bit late saying this, but I specialize in cooking," the green-eyed demon said as he laughed quite a bit.

Irritated, Sanzo looked over his shoulder. "Your mood's gone up a few notches," he said, having finished off his enemies quick enough.

Gojyo's blade had dismembered all of his opponents. Roxanna replayed the cheesy Frankenstein scene again and left the slightly charred and definitely steaming corpses behind as she finally allowed herself to gag at the smell.

"Well done," congratulated Hakkai.

"The pun isn't appreciated," groaned Ana, fighting the urge to puke.

"That's the last one," Gojyo said, nudging a severed head with his foot, sending blood spatters across the ground. "Hn. Sloppy," he mused. "That Kougaiji guy's getting' careless."

"No kidding," Sanzo said, looking over the carnage.

"We've killed every youkai who's come after us. I wonder if they're really are Kougaiji's? How funny if we got the wrong people," said Hakkai. Unbeknownst to the group, one of the 'corpses' stirred and started slowly lifting himself up.

"Haven't really thought about that," Sanzo said indifferently. "Either way, they're no different from our other enemies." The youkai was positioned right behind Sanzo, where none of them could really see him. "They died as they deserved."

A clawed hand reached for the Maten Scripture and, feeling the tug, Sanzo whipped around in shock.

An instant later, the clawed hand was severed from the rest of the youkai's body. The crazed demon was gasping in pain as he clutched at the stump that was left behind even as his hand fell to the ground quite useless.

"Huh?" Gojyo said as Shakujyo's crescent blade chinked back onto the end of his staff. "One of you buggers isn't dead?" he asked rhetorically.

Sanzo stayed still for a moment before turning and looking square into the youkai's eyes. "Sanzo?" murmured Gojyo, confused."

"Hey, you," the priest said, his violet eyes hard as amethyst as the bore into the youkai. "Were you just after this sutra?" The demon shook in fear as Sanzo shook him some more. "Why? _Under who's orders?_"

"Yeegh!" squealed the nameless youkai. "I d-don't know anything! We were j-just… We were supposed to take the sutra from Genjyo Sanzo."

"Wait? The sutra? What's going on?" asked Ana, looking very confused. Gojyo echoed her sentiments with his own confused expression.

"It's no use, Sanzo," sighed Hakkai, looking very concerned. "Cannon fodder don't generally have information."

"…I guess you're right," conceded Sanzo. He lifted his gun, which had never left his hand, and released the demon who immediately tried to get the hell away. "Then die." A bullet hole appeared in the youkai's forehead, and he dropped the twitching corpse to the ground.

"Uh, Sanzo?" asked Goku.

"No.. .nothing's wrong," Sanzo said, shooting down any chance of asking if something was indeed wrong. The priest touched the sutra, remembering words that he was told.

…_For Gyumaoh's revival, we're afraid someone is using the Seiten Sutra. The same inheritance of your mentor you've been searching for, Sanzo…_

'_Could they really?_' thought Sanzo to himself.

They moved away from the carnage, Ana's green-around-the-gills look encouraging that movement.

Once several kilometers away from the site, they stopped once more to get their bearings.

Goku, Gojyo, and Ana weren't all that interested in maps and stuff like that, so they went off a ways and talked as they mucked about.

Hakkai and Sanzo both looked over the map. "It's been three months since we left Chang'an," mused Hakkai, tracing the route on the map with his index finger. "And still such a ways to go."

"We still know nothing about Gyumaoh's revival," Sanzo said, pulling a cigarette from his pack with his teeth. "We don't have time to screw around here."

"That may be," agreed Hakkai with a gentle smile as he thought back to their encounters, good and bad… but mostly the good ones. "But I don't think anything on this journey has been pointless."

"About that…" started Sanzo, getting ready to go into how it was such a bother to have Ana around. However, he didn't get to begin his thoughts at all for Gojyo called for their attention.

"Sanzo, Hakkai," said the Kappa, making the two men turn and look. "Check it out."

Away west was a spectacular sunset. The sky was dyed reds and oranges, purples and pinks. The sun itself was a glorious orange. Everyone gazed at it for a long moment, appreciating the stark silhouettes of the rocky terrain against that sky.

"Man, lookit th' sun!" Goku said excitedly, breaking the silence. "It looks yuuuummy. Like orange juice." His grin was wide and slightly hungry looking.

Gojyo's arm had been resting on Goku's head, but it came off as the other popped the monkey upside the head. "Food," growled the playfully-irritated kappa. "Always the food."

"I don't think I've ever seen such a pretty sunset," Ana admitted in awe. "Shame I don't have a camera. That'd be one hell of a shot."

"Come to think of it, we're always running towards the sunset," Hakkai said in an amused tone. "Is it early spring already?"

"Hee hee hee," snerked Gojyo. "Cut it out, man. It's mondo cold."

"What's a mondo?" asked Ana playfully. "I'm pretty sure it's related to 'mucho' which is 'much' or 'very' in Spanish."

'_Nothing's been pointless, has it?'_ mused Sanzo as he continued to look towards the sunset. _'Even with the girl packing along with us?'_

After that musing thought, he turned away from the view. "Everybody move it," he ordered. "If we don't make it to a town tonight, we're camping."

"Oh, dear," Hakkai said worriedly, perhaps as an afterthought or to get them moving faster. "And we're out of food."

"_Whaaa?!_" cried out Goku, a horrified look on his face.

"Damn," muttered Gojyo to Hakkai. "The monkey cares more about food than about sex."

"Is that so terrible?" asked Hakkai.

"It'll be okay, Goku," Ana comforted, trying not to laugh at Goku's puppy-ish expression. "We'll get to the town. You'll see."

"Just get going," barked out Sanzo. "As long as you're alive, there'll be plenty of sunsets for you to watch." With that final philosophical statement and the 'troops' following after their unwilling leader, they began to head west again.

And far, far away, in Heaven. Kanzeon Bosatsu looked upon a young boy that has been still for many, many years. "Hunh," s-he mused. "As long as you're alive. So where does that put you?" S-he stepped forward and cupped his cheek with hi-r hand. "You breathe, you're warm… but without emotion, you're as lively as a corpse. Come on," s-he urged. "How long do you plan to wait like that… How long, Nataku?"

S-he clutched at the back of the chair he was seated in with long red nails. "The squirt's memories of Heaven have been sealed. _Including_ his crime from five hundred years ago. He doesn't remember you or me—or Konzen, even."

'_I know it's cruel, but that's what you wanted.'_

"Do you still want to wait?"

'_Until you shed your puppet's skin, Nataku, your soul is and remains alone. That's what you get for living in the past.'_

'_I'm sorry…'_

"Huh…?" Goku paused, looking up towards the sky. Was it just his imagination? He thought he heard someone speak.

"Goku! Hurry up! If we don't get going, you won't get food!" called Ana, for she had been walking when he had stopped and was ahead of him a bit.

Goku looked over in horror. "Nyaa! Heeey! Dammit, don't leave me!" cried out the chimp.

"Death to the slow," Sanzo stated.

As they left, four tiny words swirled around the abandoned area.

'_I'm so very sorry.'_

* * *

**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED**

_Volume 4: Chapter 23: Survive_

* * *

_Again I request eight signed reviews. I like plenty of inspiration when I write._

_I also request at least one anonymous review. _

_Click the purpley-blue button below. Even if it is an anonymous review, I love it._

_Don't be shy if you don't have a pen name._


	10. IX: Pandora I

**Disclaimer:** I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight... I wish Saiyuki was owned by me... Nope. Didn't work. Still belongs to Minekura.

* * *

**Reviews:** I didn't get all the reviews I wished for, but I decided it would be better to let you guys have the chapter regardless. It's been a while since I updated and I must admit I haven't been very inspired and life kept getting in the way. I did, however, sit down and figure out how to arrange all the stuff that was said to be within a year in a year and became rather shocked... There's a lot of dead space in there that I get to mess with if I want to. But don't take any of my timeline seriously. I don't know if it is even close to what happened in 'reality'. 

Now, to the reviews. **Risu-san**, yes, he can, can't he? It's a part of my evil sub-plot, so Sanzo's going to have more problems with her in the future. **Chik-A-Doom**, again apologies about mispelling your name. I was trying to hurry, just as I am now, but at least I was paying more attention this go round, eh? And glad you liked my 'Bug Zapper' technique. **Spellcaster Hikaru**, I am sorry to say they won't be training her in the story. I can't write that out too well, but she is going to be trained behind the scenes so to speak. And Hakkai is my favorite, but I love all the guys so I try to give them all equal shares of the spotlight. **LIA**, keep guessing, it's more fun that way. And I'm glad you liked the chapter. **Twilight-to-Nightfall**, glad you reviewed. I had wondered where you had gone. **FcS**, no problem. It also helps others that are interested in reading Saiyuki as well. **Sanzo4ever**, that had to be one of the loveliest reviews I have ever recieved. I try hard enough to make her a part of them rather than the main part. **Youko579**, thank you for the review! The only problem with Hakkai teaching her how to use lightning is that while it is similar to chi in some cases, it is incredibly different. Ana's controlling a natural element that was gifted to her through a god. Hakkai wouldn't know how to train that part. However, martial arts are a different story. And Ana is supposed to remain generally unsuited to battle. It adds to her charm. So she won't be getting a sword. **ViscountessKiera**, welcome to the review list! XD And I know how hard it is to find an OC with flaws. I'm desperately trying to make her seem human, but it is very hard. **Tsuki**, that was my entire goal. **Anonymous**, I'm glad you enjoy my story and I started the manga chapter list because it helped _me_ keep track of everything. How else can I keep up with what I have and haven't done?

* * *

**Chapter IX: Pandora I**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I've skipped the chapters 25, 26, 27, and 28 as Roxanna isn't involved in them and if you have read the manga, you know what happens. If you don't, go to your bookstore (preferably Borders) and pick up volume 5. While these are my favorite chapters of the first series, I don't think it's that cool to go through and retype something that isn't in the time where Ana is. Please do not be angry with me.

"Kanzeon Bosatsu," Jiroushin said as Kannon put her tile down with a clack.

"What?" asked the god-dess, fanning hi-rself. "No take-backs?"

"About Sanzo and his company," Jiroushin said, perking Kannon's interest away from the game for a bit. "Just now, I think I realized why you chose those four in the beginning and made that girl to go with them. They certainly imply they'd break all commandments without a second thought. But beings like that… they're sometimes more eloquent than any doctrine. I _do_ stand by that notion."

Kanzeon Bosatsu laughed. "You're digging way too deep. It's nothing that fancy. Those guys just happened to be there. And the girl… she's just a bonus."

* * *

Far away from games of gods in Heaven, two words that conveyed the exact feelings of all the company were uttered into the air. "Too… hot…" bemoaned Goku under the intense rays of the sun. The company was now in a desert, much to their displeasure, a week after the last episode. In that short time, Ana had received some rudimentary fighting lessons and had practiced them against two troupes of youkai that wanted to 'play'.

However, in order to go west, they had to traverse the arid area. The desert wasn't exactly the most inviting of places, really.

"An' what's with th' blankets in this sun? Blah!" complained Goku.

"Ditch it if you want to be covered in sand, monkey," bit out Gojyo before spitting out silicate. "Goddamit! You made me get sand in my mouth!" He continued to spit, trying to avoid getting more sand piled up in his mouth at the same time.

Ana sat in the middle, feeling like she could fry an egg on her face. "Can I get a refund on this all-expenses paid vacation to the Middle East?" she whined. "I wanna go to Cancun instead!"

"Scoot over," Goku said, trying to cram up against the side of the Jeep to provide more room for them not to bake. "It's too hot for your crampin'!" He was aiming it at Gojyo more than Ana as Ana had no choice to be stuck in the middle.

Gojyo, much with the brain-fried, snarled back, "There's no room to scoot, you fried monkey!"

"Wha?" Goku searched fast for a comeback. "Then you're a… dried-out kappa!"

"Will you two shut up, 'cause—" She was interrupted by Sanzo standing and turning in his seat to glare down at the lot of them.

"The grave is pleasantly cool," he 'offered'.

"W-we'll shut up," Goku and Gojyo said in unison, not wanting to irk Sanzo further. "Damn…"

Ana looked up hopefully at the pissed priest. "Could you make sure my grave is in Antarctica?" She was muffled a moment later by the two terrified men on either side. Neither of them wanted her to encourage Sanzo into shooting at them.

"Ah ha ha!" laughed Hakkai. "Please sit down, Sanzo. I'm afraid they would rot before they could enjoy it."

"Ruin my fun, Hakkai," muttered Ana.

"Hakkai, is this desert really a shortcut?" asked Sanzo as he settled down in his seat again.

"The map says it isn't as big as it seems. Though it _does_ interfere with one's sense of direction," admitted the once-human.

"Sand, sand, sand, bah," muttered Gojyo.

"Just looking at the heat waves is making me hotter," grumbled Ana.

Hakkai then spoke to the three in the back. "Would you like a scary story to cool you off? I know plenty."

"Uh, no," Gojyo refused, freaked out by the idea alone. "The last person I want freaking me out is you, Hakkai."

"'Sides,' Ana said then. "After the sweat burns off, then we're salt-dipped. And I dun wanna be sandy _and_ salty when we ain't even near the ocean."

Goku looked at her in awe. "You've seen the ocean?" he asked, having never seen such a thing.

"Um…" She gave him an odd look. "Yeah. You haven't?"

"No, 'cause it's too far," Goku said. "How far was the beach from your home?"

"Forty-five minutes away…" She shrugged. "Didn't go that often. It lost its charm after I hit sixteen and had my license. Too many other places to go…"

Goku was, as per usual, distracted fairly easily. He had caught sight of something out in the sand. "Huh? Check it out," he said to the others.

Walking through the desert was a guy draped in his own cloak and hood heading purposefully in some pre-determined direction.

The chimp immediately took action much to an embarrassed and irked Sanzo-ikkou. Standing, he hollered at the kid. "Hey! Guy in th' blankets!" was his way of greeting and gaining the kid's attention. "Do ya live near here?"

"And do you know how much farther this desert extends, please?" called Hakkai, taking advantage of Goku's exuberance.

Minutes later, the two met in the middle and Hakkai handed the map over Sanzo and to the kid. "Sure," he said. "Your map's a little outdated. The desert's bigger now. You should be through in another night."

"For real?! _ARRGH!_" bemoaned Goku.

"That does cause some problems," mused Hakkai.

"You're travelers, right?" asked the kid cheerfully with a bright grin by way of encouragement and pointing over the dunes roughly ahead of them. "My village isn't far from here. Come on—I'll show you a place to stay."

With that, Goku levered the kid up into the Jeep and they began driving towards the as-of-yet unseen village. Roxanna was happy to see this unknown person and even more happily berated him with questions.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Ah. It's Keigo," offered the teen with a smile. It wasn't often a pretty girl wanted to talk to him that wasn't from his village.

"Keigo, huh? Mine's Roxanna, but you can call me 'Ana' 'cuz it's easier to say. Anyway…" The two continued to chatter, much to the irritation of Sanzo and Goku. She was pissing Sanzo off for obvious reasons. Goku, on the other hand, felt that he should be the only one to get that open, friendly smile that she was offering Keigo. The golden-eyed teen knew he was being irrational, but he couldn't stop the feelings. However, his irritation was soothed when Ana-chan gave him a bright smile and had asked a question.

"Huh?" he asked brightly.

Roxanna gave him a look of confusion before repeating the question. "I asked if you were glad that there was a place where we can eat and sleep tonight…"

"Oh!" Goku said in sudden revelation, trying to hide his lack of attentiveness. "Yeah, I'm glad."

"What's wrong with you, tiny?" asked Gojyo, leaning on the monkey.

"Get th' hell offa me, butt munch!" hollered Goku, pushing at the kappa.

Thankfully, for all other people in the Jeep, it didn't take any longer to get to the town. They pulled within the confines of the walled village and stepped inside Keigo's home. His father, apparently, welcomed them inside with open arms.

"Thank you for all your help, the both of you," Hakkai said gratefully as he began to pull off his cloak. Goku and Ana took the easy way out and just threw back their hoods. Gojyo was mimicking them for a moment.

"Travelers get lost in these parts a lot," laughed Keigo's father. "Lucky this fella bumped into you."

Curiosity getting the better of him, the Sanzo-party social liaison better known as Cho Hakkai spoke again. "Pardon me for asking, but why is there a village out here?"

"Hm. Right," the man was sober of his amusement suddenly. "This place _used_ to be a decent sized town. A year ago, the desert suddenly expanded and swallowed the village up. We're just the ones who can't leave…"

"Is that right?" murmured Sanzo. _'I guess that's another form of the spreading chaos.'_ Shifting, he dropped his cloak off his shoulders, getting startled and somewhat horrified looks from the two occupants of the house.

"Huh?"

"Whatsa matter?" asked Gojyo with his own cloak in his hands, wondering about the startled and upset reactions.

"Those robes you're wearing!" exclaimed the man in horror. "Don't tell me… Are you a Sanzo priest?!"

"Who wants to know?" Sanzo said flatly, not appreciating the commotion.

"I'm sorry, but you can't stay here," the man said hurriedly. "Find some other place to sleep!"

Two seconds later, the five members of the Ikkou and Keigo were standing on the street. All of the ikkou were befuddled by what had happened. The door to the house slammed shut in their faces.

"Whaa? Why the hell—" Gojyo kept trying to start on his confusion, but couldn't seem to find the proper words.

A long moment of silence occurred as each individual tried to comprehend what had happened. Naturally, it was Hakkai that realized that there was a way to find out that didn't involve the strenuous task of overtaxing Goku's or Gojyo's brain with unnecessary thought. It also helped that Keigo had that look on his face of sadness and understanding.

"Do you know something of this, little one?" asked the youkai, turning to face Keigo fully. "We'd appreciate you sharing."

Keigo stayed silent, ducking his head as he thought over what to tell them. Finally he spoke, earning everyone's attention. "…About a y-year ago, when this place was still part of the town… a Sanzo priest came through." That brought Sanzo's rapt attention to the subject. "He was just resting from a trip—like you guys. The whole town heard about it and wanted to come see. But a youkai from the desert heard about him, too. She came to eat the Sanzo priest."

At that point, Goku decided to speak up with the mention of 'eating'. "Wow! She came all th' way here to eat a Sanzo? Sanzos must taste awesome."

Gojyo gave him a look of 'you've got to be kidding me' as Ana shifted away from him at such a comment. "I wish it sounded like you were kidding," Gojyo said.

Sanzo pulled out his pack of Marlboros and took a cigarette from the pack. "The spider we fought said something like that," he mused. He stuck the cigarette in his mouth as he found his lighter. "'Eating a priest will extend your lifespan.' She said it's a sort of youkai legend."

Hakkai thoughtfully began to speak. "Ah… That would make a Sanzo, the highest priest, like the best medicine in the world."

Gojyo's head snapped around to look at Sanzo. "Shit. Is that really true?"

"Hell if I know. Having never been eaten, I wouldn't know."

"But that doesn't even make sense!" exclaimed Ana suddenly. "In fact, it makes as much sense as saying 'eating saturated fats will make you skinny'! How can you be made to have a longer life except for the part of where you aren't starving to death from eating something?"

When the group looked over at Sanzo again, he gave them all an annoyed look. "I already answered the damn question!" he snarled somewhat.

Back to the subject at hand…

"So?" asked Goku, looking at Keigo, curious despite his earlier misgivings. "What happened to th' Sanzo?"

"The monks with him tried to fight the youkai. They didn't stand much of a chance, so the Sanzo ended up taken. Though the youkai left us alone after that… the desert's gotten wider since then."

"The nimrod let himself get eaten?" Gojyo said in disbelief. "But he was a frickin' _Sanzo_."

"A Sanzo isn't necessarily offensively powerful," Hakkai told him. "I'm sure he was a proper, upright, normal Sanzo."

The other two men looked on in sudden revelation. "Ooooh. So that's why," they spoke in unison.

"Y'mean Sanzo's not a normal Sanzo?" asked Ana, having never met a Sanzo other than this one and not having any bases with the Buddhist religion.

"Are you implying something?" Sanzo asked, a tic on his cheek just below his eye.

Ana grinned at him. "S'okay, Sanzo! I'm on your side. How was I supposed to know you weren't average?"

Sanzo gave her a flat look, daring her to try and continue to 'comfort' him. She got the hint and shut up.

"That'd make us being here a danger to the villagers," Gojyo said, glancing around the town. "Makes sense. I don't blame 'em for being dodgy."

"I'm sorry," apologized Keigo. "The people here are nice, really."

"Nah—Ya can't help bein' scared. 'S okay!" Goku felt bad about having been surly towards the kid before and was at least trying to make it up.

Hakkai sighed, his hands on his hips. "We should probably leave soon, then."

Sanzo remained still for a second before coming to a decision. Hakkai noticed.

"Is something wrong, Sanzo?"

"Sort of." He turned to Keigo. "Hey, kid."

"Yes?" Keigo's head snapped up at the sudden addressing of the Sanzo priest.

"Do you know where that desert youkai's base is?" asked Sanzo.

"Um, I have an idea."

"Then take us there," Sanzo ordered him.

"Hey, wait a second!" protested Gojyo. "You wanna kill that thing? Since when are _we_ heroes?"

"That thing's probably out of they way," cautioned Hakkai.

"An' she's gonna wanna eatcha, Sanzo!"

"And I definitely want to get out of this desert asap, Sanzo," begged Ana.

"Wait," Hakkai said as he took another look at Sanzo's expression of resolve. "That's your 'ulterior motive' face."

"…Maybe," Sanzo said simply.

Keigo hesitated for a long minute before telling them the direction and distance. "It's pretty much that way…" He pointed towards a direction, though the buildings hampered the view. "North by north east. And it's five kilometers out into the sand. There isn't anything you can see, though. The base is underground. But I'm absolutely sure it's there."

"Thanks," Sanzo said tersely. "Let's get going."

"This is so stupid," muttered Ana. "Can I go back to not understanding Chinese?"

Sanzo had a thought. _'Weren't you were on my side?'_ Naturally… he didn't voice it.

With the directions firmly in mind, Hakkai implored Hakuryuu to transform once again into his Jeep form. They drove out into the desert, hoping to find the subterranean castle that Keigo spoke of.

It took them about twenty minutes to go the five kilometers, sand not being the best of surfaces to drive on. And the desert was as hot as it had been the moment they had met Keigo, if not hotter.

But when they arrived at the spot, they realized, much to Goku's confusion, that there was no castle that they could see. "Is this really th' place?" asked the second youngest in the group. "It's just a whole lotta nothin'."

"The boy said five kilometers north by northeast—that's here," reassured Hakkai as they exited the Jeep and Hakuryuu went back to his adorable dragon form to settle on Hakkai's shoulder.

"It's supposed to be in the sand, right?" asked Gojyo. "The youkai castle, I mean."

"For real?" demanded Goku, looking more and more discouraged. "How th' heck're we supposed to get in?"

"One… gigantic… catbox…" muttered Roxanna looking around, shaking the sand out of her hair. This damn hair was getting more and more in her way, it seemed. It'll take forever for the sand to wash out. She turned. "Sanzo! Why the hell are we wasting our time here?! I'm getting sand in my eyes and hair thanks to all this."

"The kid," informed Sanzo, "said a Sanzo priest was taken here. If he really was killed by that youkai, his belongings should still be in that castle. _Including_ the Tenchi Kaigen Sutra every Sanzo carries."

"Um… whazza Tenchi Kaigen Sutra?"

"The sutra that rests on Sanzo's shoulders is an example of one," Hakkai said, pointing at the strip of paper adorning the oldest member's shoulders. "He holds the Maten Scripture." He looked at Sanzo even as comprehension flooded Ana's face with a soft 'ooohh' leaving her mouth. "It seems that Gyumaoh's force is gathering sutras."

"Right," confirmed Sanzo. "Which is why _we_ need to find it first."

With that, they began to trudge through the sand, sending up flurries of the silicate behind them.

Goku glanced back over his shoulder when he realized the sand was pulling at his feet a little too much. "Nn?" What he saw made him gasp in shock. "What the—" Rapidly falling downwards, he released a yelp, attracting the others' attention. He slowed, but didn't stop a second later, the sand almost up to his hips. "Hey! M-my body's skinkin'!"

"Goku!" It was undetermined who said Goku's name, but the point was gotten across. They were alarmed that he was sinking into the sands.

Naturally, Gojyo moved to help the chimp, but was forced to stop in his tracks as he, too, began to be pulled down. "What the hell—Dammit! You're shittin' me!" He slid down past his ankles to mid-calf.

"Watch it, Gojyo!" warned Goku an instant too late.

"Dammit," Sanzo swore as he got hold of Goku and began to try and pull him out by the wrist he had caught. However…

"Nngh!" He too fell prey to the sand.

By this time, the quicksand had spread far enough to catch both Ana and Hakkai. Hakuryuu had took to the air, unsure of what was happening as the group fought to get loose.

"Oh, my freaking god!" spazzed Ana, trying to remember every damn Discovery Channel program that had quicksand in it to try and get loose. She was coming up woefully short on ideas, though.

"Great," snarled Sanzo, his eyes flat with rage and fear. "Is this a trap?"

"I'd say that's a reasonable guess."

"Gojyo! Goku!" squealed Ana, attracting the men's attention to see Goku having completely vanished under the sand and the last bit of Gojyo's hair sliding under the sand. Three seconds later, the sand was sliding up over Ana's chin, the girl fighting her panicking instincts to keep from hyperventilating and allowing sand into her mouth.

"Close your damn mouth!" snarled Sanzo to the girl, seeing her panic attack. Ana apparently feared Sanzo more than sand, for she closed her mouth and eyes tightly just before her mouth was covered in sand. Sanzo himself found the sand up to his chin and followed his own advice. As they disappeared beneath the sand, Hakkai called their names, worried to death. He was the last to remain head and shoulders above sand, having been caught last.

Suddenly, Hakuryuu swooped down and snagged the man's sleeve, tugging as hard as he could to try and keep Hakkai from going completely under.

"Jeep?!" exclaimed Hakkai in shock. Jeep's wings were beating furiously as he brought his claws to bear on the sleeve as well. "No!" gasped Hakkai, as his shoulders finally lost the battle with the sand. "Don't! Let go before you're pulled in with us!" Sliding under the sand, the last thing to descend was his arm and hand, it automatically lashing out to loose Jiipu from his sleeve, startling the tiny dragon.

Instants later, the hand vanished beneath the sand, leaving one tiny white dragon to wheel in the air above the place where his friends had vanished, calling out in vain for someone… anyone… to hear him and come and help.

But the desert was wide and empty. There was no one…

* * *

Far away from mortal concerns…

"Shit… Hang on," Kanzeon Bosatsu said as s-he folded hi-r arms over hi-r chest as s-he studied the board. "What the hell?"

Jiroushin offered one piece of advice.

"No take-backs."

…Obviously our lovely god-dess has made a very bad move…

* * *

Consciousness returned to him slowly. Touch came first, then taste. He was laying on something soft… a bed? His mouth tasted of sand and was nastily dry and gritty. Smell came. The air smelled of… well, it smelled dry. Hearing came to him and all he heard was silence save for the faint high-pitched white noise one hears when you can't hear anything else. Sight soon followed once he opened his eyes. There was a ceiling above him. A fairly bare room… Shit.

'_Where the hell… am I?'_ he wondered to himself. _'I guess that youkai's looking for company.'_

He tried to shift his arms so he could pick himself up, but all he could manage was his fingertips and a bit of his hand.

'…_And my arms won't move. Great.'_

Instinctively, the priest tried to move the rest of his body. It didn't move at all. Dropping his hand back onto the mattress the youkai had so 'obligingly' allowed him to use, he thought, _'Come to think of it, I can't move a thing.'_ He sighed and closed his eyes. _'Drugs, maybe.'_

His eyes snapped back open when he heard the faint _creee_ of a door opening. He looked as far as he could in that direction, but could only make out the vaguest of shapes. "Are we awake already?" came the voice of his apparent capturer. "It's all right; there's no rush." The person came in and approached the bed. Indeed, it was a youkai… just not the she-youkai Sanzo had heard so much about. "If you're stuck in that bed, you might as well enjoy it." He had a chance to observe the youkai dressed in drag when he came over to hover near the bed. "I'm Lian Li, master of this castle," 'she' said in 'her' most seductive, feminine voice. "And how are we feeling, dear priest Sanzo?"

"Like… shit," he told her. _'Damn. Even my mouth barely moves.'_

Like he gave a damn, the queenie put a finger to his lip and frowned. "That's too bad."

"Where… are they?" managed Sanzo.

"Your friends? Being entertained elsewhere. But forget about them," advised the youkai. He sat down on the bed and leaned towards Sanzo a bit more, enjoying the priest's looks. "I admit I'm surprised. You're the second Sanzo to wander to my home."

"…You ate the other one," forced out Sanzo.

"With relish," confirmed the fag. "He tasted better than he looked." He paused, glancing a bit more closely at Sanzo's face. "You don't seem afraid. Why?"

"N-no reason," Sanzo said.

"The other Sanzo chanted a sutra and almost wet himself," informed the youkai, standing abruptly. "I thought all high priests were straight-laced old men. A pretty young thing like you's a treat." Leaning back down so he would give a full cleavage shot had he had the cut of dress and the breasts for it, the youkai's face hovering mere centimeters above Sanzo's face, he spoke. "I think I like you."

"So you're already… immortal." That damn pause wasn't intentional, just like the break when he tried to say 'no' earlier. Damn drugs… "Why bother eating me?" He needed all the information he could get.

"After you came all the way here? Not eating you would be rude," chastised the demon as he levered himself up over Sanzo so he was straddling him like the little dominatrix he wanted to be.

"T-tell me." Damn hitch. "What's the draw of being ageless?"

"I see you're not an expert on women. We want to stay beautiful forever, Sanzo."

"G-great. Heh. I know a girl that would probably disagree." The smirk on his face grew, and his eyes mocked the demon above him. "But you're not fooling anyone, faggot."

The demon backed up and away slightly in surprise. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Your makeup's pretty… thick." Oh, he could have said so many other things about the makeup, buuuut… "But not thick enough. You're absolutely vomit-worthy." …That was exactly the reason why he had chosen that particular word.

His cheek was smarting an instant later as the wannabe-she-youkai slapped him.

"Take that back, priest," hissed the youkai. "You're in no position to throw around insults. I can kill you whenever I want!"

The threats didn't take, for Sanzo is the ultimate intimidator.

"Just g-get going," responded Sanzo. "You're stuck in that ugly body for all eternity. I'm not the loser here."

In a cell some distance away so that the occupants couldn't interfere with the youkai's fun, one monkey was rattling the bars of his cage. "Oi!" he shouted, trying to shake the bars of the cell loose, "_Oi oi oi oi! Let us out of here!_" He shook the bars some more. "Are ya listenin', uglies?! _Oi!_"

Gojyo laid on the cool floor, his back to Goku. "Give it a rest, Goku," sighed the kappa.

"I don't think asking is enough to get out," Hakkai told him.

Roxanna didn't offer anything to the conversation. She was too busy laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. That, and worrying about Sanzo. Frankly, she didn't understand it. Why should she be worried about the biggest ass in the world? But she was, and she had to think about _why_ she was.

"But Sanzo's gone!" protested Goku, turning to look accusingly at the three other people in the cell with him. "That youkai's gonna try an' eat 'im!"

"She's welcome to frickin' try," ground out Gojyo, sitting up and violently clutching a cigarette between his teeth.

"Although I don't envy Sanzo during that," laughed Hakkai, trying to cover up his own worry.

"Yo, get up," Gojyo said, pushing his foot out and nudging Ana in the side.

Ana looked over at him, a flat look on her face. "You do realize this is the first time… Okay, I take that back. It's the second time I've been in a cell. The first time that it isn't owned by the cops."

They all paused for a second. "And why, exactly, were you arrested?" asked Hakkai, warily.

"I decided it would be fun to see how much I could harass a police officer…" Ana said blandly. "Naw, it was more like I was caught driving without my license and Mom had to come pick me up… I was also about… fifteen. No license to even leave at home."

"And why did you do that?" asked Hakkai.

"Because I needed something from the store and my mom told me that if I wanted it so much, I had to go get it. So I did." She shrugged and sat up. "So… what's the plan?"

"Yes…" Hakkai looked around the cell. "We do need to think of a plan to escape and save Sanzo."

"Mmm…" moaned Goku, before sliding down to rest his head on the bars. "I'm so _huuuungry_…" whined the chimp.

"I told you to quit it," Gojyo said in a non-apologetic manner.

Ana stared at him and rolled her eyes. "Idiot for using all your energy on the damn bars…" she sighed.

"Hm," Hakkai said in a slightly sympathetic tone. "Hm. Before Sanzo can be eaten, our Goku just may starve."

Goku, however, really didn't hear their comments. He had heard something else. "What's that sound?" he asked, looking around the dim cell.

"Great… You're hearing things now?" asked Gojyo, not believing this at all.

"Am not!" protested Goku, settling back so he could rest a hand on the floor. "It's like… paper movin'. Some sort of 'fwappy fwappy' sound like—" His words were cut off at the sudden presence of a moving object on his hand. Startled, he looked down to see a shiny black scorpion crawling over his hand, making the very 'fwappy fwappy' noise he had described. "Nyaaaa!" he shouted in fright, sending Ana off the floor in a second.

"Goku?" asked a concerned Hakkai even as Ana scowled from her now-standing position and bit out, "You gave me a heart attack!"

"A scorpion!" shouted Goku, waving his hand though there was no longer a scorpion present on his hand and fully explaining why he was flipping out at the same time. "Get it off! Get it off!"

The scorpion hit the floor and brought its stinger to bear at the sudden violent acts. It wasn't close enough to strike, but it was ready to sting.

Ana expressed strangely similar reactions to the news. "Wha?!" She immediately decided Gojyo's shoulders would be the best place to hang out. "I hate bugs!"

Obviously she was remembering Chin Yisou's kind attack.

"Okay," Gojyo said, struggling slightly under the sudden weight. "Don't move, okay, or else we might fall on it."

"Come now, you two. This is the desert," admonished Hakkai. "A scorpion or two isn't…" He trailed off when he saw what lay outside the bars.

"Uh, huh," responded Ana. "I can deal with one or two. That many's crushable… but… what about…?"

"What does a million mean?" asked Gojyo, popping the cigarette from his mouth. Goku had shrunk up against Hakkai, wishing it didn't look so bad for a guy to be held up by another. Lucky Ana.

As the incoming scorpions drew closer, totaling over three dozen, the four of them worried not just for their friend out of sight, but also themselves.

As for that friend… His blood had stained the covers beneath him from his rough encounter with the youkai's fists. Gasping for breath, he listened to the youkai prattle after having beaten him, an immobile person who's only weapon was his wit.

"Hunh. You're a cocky little bastard, aren't you?" sneered the queenie, glad to have hurt him for his 'impertinence'. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up so that Sanzo was sitting, more or less. "You're all the same in the end. There's no power in stupid humans reading sutras!" he insulted.

Sanzo's face felt sore. So did the rest of him for that matter. Especially his head where that bitch of a man was clenching his hair. Life was coming back to his limbs. Yes… that damn fag didn't even know that his little drugs were almost done for.

"What's so great about a Sanzo priest?!" he crowed, shaking Sanzo by the scalp slightly.

"…Maybe your right," Sanzo said, wishing to reach up and wipe the blood from his face and check tender bruises, but considering the situation, he'd have to wait on that.

"You're nothing but food to me!" the youkai said, clearly thinking he was in control of the situation. Gods above, his ranting was tiring. "_Dinner's_ all you are—"

He was suddenly cut off by Sanzo's fist being planted in his face. Releasing Sanzo's hair in shock and pain, the youkai fell back and landed on the floor. The tables, much to the youkai's confusion, had been turned.

"HGCK!" choked out the youkai. He snapped his head up to look at the suddenly mobile priest. "Wh-what?" he gasped, confused beyond belief. "But you shouldn't be able to move!"

"Your _bitch slaps_ were enough to wear the drugs down," Sanzo informed him. He was beyond pissed. This damn youkai had beaten him up, belittled him, and otherwise was a sad waste of air and time. "You're right, by the way. A Sanzo's nothing but a human. And humans are good at killing," he blatantly informed the youkai.

Away in the cell, the quartet had figured out the best way to smash out of the cell… or rather, Goku and Gojyo had decided upon a course and Hakkai was trying to keep them from doing it as he feared the wall they wished to destroy was one that might bring the roof down upon their heads.

"That isn't a good idea," insisted Hakkai as Goku summoned Nyoi-Bo. "It may be a load bearing wall—"

"Whatever that means!" Goku said as he ran at the wall and smashed it with one blow.

"Oh, dear," Hakkai said worriedly. Ana looked at the scorpions from her perch on Gojyo, who was kind enough not to throw her off.

"Think we can leave now? I'd rather be gone if it means that we're gonna bring down the house… and away from the scorpions…" She gave a shudder and clutched at Gojyo's neck, for she was riding piggy back style when Gojyo had demanded she get down from up that high.

"Yes, let's move," agreed Hakkai as they began to run out of the prison cell and towards where they hoped Sanzo was. There were a few crunching sounds when they stomped some of the scorpions, making Ana flinch and whimper every time.

"Easy, there," Gojyo said to her, trying to calm her down for her arms had tensed about his neck.

"I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em," she chanted.

"I figured," muttered the kappa, though he didn't slow his pace.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed the youkai. Whether it was in triumph or fear, that was debatable. "I'm immortal, Sanzo. You can't kill me!"

"Give me a break. You actually believe that stupid rumor?" Sanzo said, his eyes flat and chilling, freezing the youkai in place. "Anyone who thinks eating a human will make you ageless is a moron."

The words shocked the youkai, the emotion coloring his face as his pupils contracted.

"I'm guessing you've never had proof of your immortality," Sanzo went on, pulling out the gun that the youkai had never thought to look for on a holy man, having assumed he was like the last one. "Care to test that theory out?" he continued, leveling the Smith & Wesson M .10 at him.

"N-no!" shouted the youkai in horror, not liking this at all, trying to get away. But he didn't have much of a choice, for Sanzo pulled the trigger and a bullet pierced his shoulder, spraying blood from the hole. "Ow!" he yelled in pain, grabbing the wound two seconds after it had appeared. "_Aaaaaagh!_" he bemoaned, the pain flaring harshly through his system.

"Look at that," mused Sanzo, pissed beyond all belief. "I guess immortals can feel pain like the rest of us…" He hated this situation. He hated this room. He hated this youkai. "If I hit your head or heart…" he mused, "…I bet it'd hurt like hell."

"N-no! Please, don't!" begged the youkai, terrified of this priest that had violet eyes and an evil disposition when angered.

'_This is stupid.'_ The thought echoed in his head even as the youkai screamed in pain as he fired a shot. Then another. The screams echoed about the room.

'_This is __**really**__ stupid.'_ The thought was more persistent, but he ignored it. His lips curled upwards into a smile at the youkai's scream of pain as he fired yet another round. But before he could fire a fourth time…

They had heard the screams, unknowing of who was the one that was doing it. But they did know it wasn't good. Racing to the door where they could hear the screams originating from behind, they flung open the obstacle and saw…

"What are you _doin'_, Sanzo?!" Goku cried out in horror. Sanzo froze, and the youkai looked up from his agony, trying to figure out if he was in bigger shit than before.

Ana couldn't help but slide down off of Gojyo's back at the scene, the kappa letting her go. There was so much blood and the smell of iron and gunpowder was in the air. "Oh…" she said softly, her eyes wide.

Gojyo came forward and grabbed Sanzo by the shoulder and half spun him around. "Shit, man!" swore the kappa, confused and pissed. "Torture? This isn't like you!"

"Not like me…?" Sanzo said softly. He looked up at the taller man, his eyes somewhat amused… somewhat… sad… and… somewhat… confused. "Then what _is_ like me?"

The confusion was more blatant on Gojyo's face when asked that question. "What's that supposed to …"

Goku marched forward in a determined manner, earning a startled 'Goku?' from two different voices. However, he ignored them and came right up to Sanzo. A second later, he kicked the priest in the shin.

"Ow!" yelped Sanzo, backing up a step. "That hurt!" snarled the priest. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Hit me." It made everyone, even the youkai on the floor, pause. "Hit me with th' fan and call me stupid monkey. Okay?" Sanzo looked at the monkey before him, the towering anger dissolving within him. "That's what Sanzo's like." That was it; the anger… the unnatural anger… was gone.

Sanzo turned away from the monkey. In part because he couldn't face Goku, in part because he needed the information from the youkai.

'_How very sudden,'_ mused Hakkai. _'That cruelty in Sanzo just vanished completely. I suppose it couldn't stand up to Goku.'_ He smiled.

Ana was still transfixed upon the remnants of Sanzo's anger, her voice lost. Sanzo… She couldn't wrap her mind around it. The very person that pissed her off, the very person she worried about… He had done this. And it made her sad. Why?

"You," Sanzo said shortly to the bleeding youkai. "Answer me something." He knelt down onto the floor before the youkai. "Where are you hiding the sutras? I want mine and I want the other Sanzo's. So get talking."

"Th-the sutras?" asked the youkai, fearing another gunshot. "The old one's s-somewhere around the castle. Yours is in the chest. The one right behind you."

'_There?'_ Decisively, he turned to get his sutra, not wanting it out of his hands any longer.

The youkai released his wound on his arm and the nails on his and suddenly lengthened. Gojyo saw the movement and his breath hitched as he gathered it to shout a warning, but it happened so fast for the nails shot out even longer than feasibly possible and pierced Sanzo's back and came out through his abdomen.

"Gahah!" gasped Sanzo, in sudden pain, his back arching from the force the nail that had caught had caused.

"Sanzo!" shrieked the onlookers. They ran forward, Ana and Goku barely catching the priest as he fell to the floor the moment the claws were retracted. Ana was holding him moreso than Goku, the monkey clutching at Sanzo's shoulders.

"Hakkai, fix him!" begged Goku, turning to the older man.

Hakkai was already on it, muttering the reassurance of, "Calm down, Gok—" He gasped in shock when he realized his chi did no good. "What?"

"Heh heh. Do you l-like my scorpion claws?" asked the youkai. "The poison in them is fatal."

The color drained from Ana's face and there was horror etched in the other's visages as well.

"You… You stupid creep!" shouted Goku, not sure what to do as Ana cradled a good portion of Sanzo's upper body in her arms.

Up on the surface, two youkai were wandering the desert, trying to figure out exactly where the demon's castle was.

"Damn," swore Doku. "Hot enough for ya?"

"Mm," murmured Kougaiji distractedly, plucking at the cloak about his shoulders. "But that's strange. According to the report, the castle should be here."

They had no clue what was going on beneath their feet.

Doku saw something white in the tan sand and started towards it. Seeing the movement, Kougaiji turned and looked at him. "Something wrong, Dokugaku?"

"Uh, no," Doku said. "There's just some white thing buried over there."

As he got closer, he gasped in shock. "Hey, look at that!" It was Jiipu, partially buried in the sand. "Isn't that the, uh…"

Kou lifted up the tiny beast as he examined it, Jeep so weak from the sun, barely noticing the movement. "It sure _looks_ like Sanzo's jeep. What's it doing here?"

Jiipu finally registered someone nearby and touching him. He lifted his head, surprising Kou and began to plaintively 'cheep' at him, begging him to help and save his friends.

"I don't believe this," Kou said in awe and shock. Sanzo and the others are _here_!"

* * *

The book Pandora, is by Anne Rice and is a part of her Vampire stories. Pandora, by Greek definition, is a woman who had a box with all the wonderful and terrible things in the world. And when she opened the box, everything save for one last emotion fled the box and spread all over the world. Pandora, in this story, is a vampire who was from Greece and opened the lid on the darkest part of human lore back when she was human… the vampires.

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**MANGA CHAPTERS SKIPPED**

_Volume 5: Chapter 24: Be There, 1_

_Volume 5: Chapter 25: Be There, 2_

_Volume 5: Chapter 26: Be There, 3_

_Volume 5: Chapter 27: Be There, 4_

**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED**

_Volume 5: Chapter 28: Sandstorm_

* * *

Again I request eight signed reviews for my own greedy purposes.

It also gives me time to write out another chapter, which I've been really slow at doing lately.

I also request at least two anonymous reviews because even if you do not have a username on like to be able to have input from you. Besides, I love reviews.


	11. X: Pandora II

**Disclaimer:** I think if you look back to the last chapter, I have already admitted that I do not own Saiyuki. Ana _is_ mine, so I'd take special consideration if I were you to not steal her.

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**Reviews:** Poor, poor **Chik-A-Doom.** Am I yanking your chain? Glad you're enjoying it. So what _is_ your new idea of pairings? I love seeing what people think I'm going to do to the story. It makes me go... WTF?! **Risu-san**, I'm glad to see that you love it so much as well. The best part (and hardest part) is indeed working Ana in and changing things suitably to include her. It is incredibly difficult. **Twilight-to-Nightfall**, get to work on those stories! XD I'm teasing. I'm horrible about updating _my_ story so why should I be mean to you? **I love athrun**, welcome to the review area! And here's that new chapter you... nicely requested. **Sanzo4ever**, did you know this was _supposed_ to be a short story? It kind of grew out of proportion, though. I'm hardly done at this point and on my computer I probably have double the amount of pure story than what I've got here. Go ahead! One of the first reviews I got was saying that this story could be better done by monkeys. Flames are important to get an author to grow. Not to mention, it makes taking criticism a little easier (not that it ever really _does_ get easier, but you know what I mean). If you want me to look over your ficlet, I'd be glad to. PM me over sometime and I'll give you my e-mail address so we can hash it out. **PhantomoftheBasket**, I have written more. Read it. XP **ViscountessKiera**, I noted the mannish jawline and the comments about the 'queenie' and the 'thick makeup'. I thought it was terribly funny to look at the guy and go... that's a dude in drag!!! Hee hee!!! Point finger and laugh!!! Really, it was more toned down, but I still grinned like an idiot at Sanzo's lovely comments. **invisible-gurl**, you didn't do a good job of staying invisible, hm? Teasing, teasing. And here's the update. **FcS**, keep reading. I want to keep it more or less up in the air until the Kami-sama arc. Torturing the Ikkou (plus one) has become a favorite pastime. Besides, love doesn't bloom over a couple of months, no?

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**Chapter X: Pandora II **

"He's poisoned?" Goku asked shakily. He grabbed the priest around the shoulders and began to shake him, trying to bring him back to consciousness. "Sanzo! Wake up! Sanzo!"

"Sonavabitch!" snarled Gojyo in the middle of Goku's plea. He snatched the youkai by the shoulders up off the floor and shook him. "Don't you play dead on me, queenie! You fix this or I'll fix _you_!" he threatened before he realized that the youkai was limp and his eyes unseeing. "Shit," swore the kappa, his face twisting into a scowl. "He's already kicked it." He dropped the corpse and straightened.

"It was probably from the blood loss," Hakkai said, his smile gone because his worry was that great. "Apparently those 'immortality' rumors were nothing more than hearsay."

A thought occurred to Hakkai and he looked over at the two kids huddled around Sanzo. Goku had pretty much taken Sanzo from Ana and was holding his head and shoulders on his lap. The girl was still quite close, her and Goku's heads nearly touching as they both fretted over the downed Sanzo. It was amazing how much the two of them were connected with the man who had never really had a kind word for either of them. Even moreso when you think about how Ana hadn't been with them that long in comparison to Goku. The blood on the floor was quite worrying as well. But that wasn't what was worrying Hakkai.

"Damn, Hakkai," Gojyo said, apparently reading the green-eyed man's mind. "This's a lot like that time with Rikudo," he muttered to the demon. "The kid's not gonna snap again, is he?"

"Um, Goku…" Hakkai said, trying to assess Goku's mental stability.

"Hakkai," Goku said suddenly.

"So?" asked Hakkai, prompting him to continue.

"I wanna help him. How can I help Sanzo?" the golden-eyed monkey said, determination showing strongly in his face and posture.

'_I'll… get stronger.'_ Indeed, Hakkai remembered Goku saying that. He smiled in assurance.

"Yeah! How can we help him?" asked Ana, scared for Sanzo's safety.

"Whatever the case, we've gotta get outta here first," Gojyo said, being sensible… which, considering Sanzo wasn't awake to hear… It was quite the surprising thing.

"Right," agreed Hakkai, a low sound starting to permeate the room. "If we can return to the village in time, they may have an antidote. I'm sure they face their share of scorpions."

"But it's not like there's a door anywhere," Ana said suddenly. "How did we even get in here if there's not a door?"

"And what's that—" mused Gojyo, trying to identify the sound he was hearing. However, they all flinched in shock and surprise as a loud rumbling sound filled the air. "Hey! You guys hear that one?"

"What the hell?" Ana said, shifting slightly on the floor.

"It sounds like somethin' crackin'!" Goku said in wonder.

"Uh-oh… wait!"

That brought everything save for the threatening noises in the background to a halt. Hakkai School was in session.

"We're currently underground, correct?" Hakkai said, holding up his index finger like he was a real teacher making a point.

"Guess so," groused Gojyo, not understanding as the other two stared at the scene.

"And how did we escape the dungeon earlier?" pressed on Hakkai.

"Beevis and Butthead attacked the wall and broke it," Ana said dryly, knowing they were going to get in trouble for the actions.

"Precisely, though not in those terms," Hakkai said. "And if a wall carrying the load of an underground lair is _broken_, what does physics dictate?"

"Wha?" This was totally going over Goku's head.

"Uh…" Gojyo managed to work his way through it, though. "The roof'll break under the weight of sand on top."

As if in confirmation of his correct answer, the door began to violently creak and suddenly burst forth with a ton of sand behind it.

"Gah!" yelped Goku as he began to try and get Sanzo's unconscious form away from the incoming sand.

"Shit!" cried out Gojyo. "Why didn't you say something earlier?!"

"I did try to stop you, if you recall," Hakkai said somewhat calmly.

"Screw an exit—Now we can't even leave this room!" shouted Gojyo.

"Everybody look for a vent or something!" called Hakkai.

Roxanna looked like she was near ready to climb the walls. First sinking through sand, then the scorpions, and now the sand was gonna try and kill her again! However, rather than run around screaming her head off, she stayed as close as she could to Goku and Sanzo. She just couldn't stay away from them.

Hakkai had a strange look on his face as he shouted the word "Wait!" over the sound of the slithering sand and cracking foundations. He turned and jerked open the cabinet drawer behind him.

"What are you doing?!" called Gojyo, wondering if Hakkai had lost his mind.

"The sutra. We have to at least get the Maten Sutra back!" Hakkai said, rapidly shuffling through drawers in a desperate search for his prize. Suddenly… _'There! Good.'_

He grabbed the scroll even as Goku and Ana cried out in terror. "Guys! We've gotta do somethin' fast!" hollered Goku. "The ceilin's fallin' in!"

"Gojyo, hold this," Hakkai said, shoving the scroll into the kappa's hands.

"Huh?" came the oh-so intelligent reply.

"Shit!" squeaked Ana as she struggled to lift Sanzo out of the sand. Damn her for being weak! "Goku!"

A bare instant later, the ceiling caved in.

"Ack! AAAAAAAAHH!!!"

* * *

The commotion of sand and cement on the surface was enough to attract Kougaiji and Doku to the scene. They hurriedly backed up and away from the sinkhole, despite the sound of the terrified scream. "What the hell?" muttered Doku, able to sum the situation with three words.

* * *

Under the sand, three astonished faces dared to look after having not been crushed by sand or rubble from the ceiling. "Wh-what th—" murmured Goku, opening closed eyes.

Ana cracked her own open, having instinctively hunkered over Sanzo's head when the sand had crashed downwards even though it would have done little good.

"Hakkai!" Gojyo managed to make the name sound like an astonished swearword of gratefulness, but the gratitude lasted about as long as the shock of being not-crushed did.

"I'm afraid I c-can only shield us from the ceiling," informed the demon, using his chi to block the landslide of sand. "Keep your feet moving or you'll be buried from below!"

The sand was indeed piling up fast around their ankles as Ana tried to get Sanzo out of the sand to keep him from being buried and therefore sentenced to certain death rather than the one that was hovering over him due to the poison. Goku saw her trouble and, using his strength, lifted the priest out of the sand and into his arms.

"Quit worryin' about us getting'—Agh!" His foot slipped under the sand and he jerked it out a second later to plant it firmly, more or less, on top of the silicate again. Ana turned to look at the chi-wielding demon and saw that he was buried halfway up his shins, much like herself as she struggled to get out of the mess.

"What about _you_, Hakkai! You're getting buried!"

"Damn!" swore Gojyo, fighting to get himself up on top of the sand. "It's falling fast!" _'I never thought that sand could scare the shit out of me.'_ "Just give it up, Hakkai! Keep pushing against that pressure, and your blood vessels'll pop!"

"Would you prefer that all of us get buried alive?!" chastised Hakkai, keeping up the shield despite feeling the pressure Gojyo spoke of. More of the building caved in, creating a fresh wave of sand. _'This won't work much longer!'_ Hakkai thought, losing some of the shield as the sand came through.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" swore Gojyo, covering his face with an upraised arm.

"Nnnh!" whined Ana.

Goku clutched Sanzo's unconscious form to him, praying that somehow things would work out.

A sudden furious breeze ripped away the falling sand. There was the barest time for the thought of _'A red wind?'_ from Hakkai before all was mostly silent. The sand still trickled down, but it was in tiny streams rather than a gigantic raging river.

"Wha… It stopped fallin'," Goku said, stating the obvious.

"Ugh," groaned Gojyo, taking a moment to spit out the little bit of sand that had managed its way into his mouth. "Nobody's dead, are they?" he asked.

Ana pulled herself completely out of the sand onto all fours as she shook violently. "P-present a-and accounted for…" she gasped out.

Hakkai was doing his own share of gasping, but from exhausting himself trying to do the impossible rather than fright. "Not as such," he managed. "But more importantly, what just happened?" He raised a hand and wiped the sweat off his face.

He got his answer. "So it _was_ you," came from above along with the soft crunching sound of sand on sand as a foot came down on it near the edge. For a moment, the sand near the edge of the one-time subterranean wall trickled faster under the sudden shifting weight.

"Kougaiji!" gasped the lot of them in shock. Ana struggled to her feet, having calmed down somewhat.

"What are you five doing in a place like this?" he asked, glaring down upon them even as he continued to hold a certain precious burden of Jiipu in his arms.

"_You_ saved us, Kougaiji?" Hakkai, the diplomat, said in surprise. "Um… thanks…"

"Save your gratitude," spat the demon. "I just happened to be passing by."

Hearing his master's voice, Hakuryuu wiggled out of Kougaiji's grasp and flew to Hakkai in relief, cheeping at him worriedly. "Jeep!" exclaimed Hakkai. "You waited this whole time for us… to…"

Suddenly, the man wavered and fell forward, his exhaustion getting the better of him. Ana happened to be in the right position at the time and he fell onto her. "Eep!" she yipped, surprised she was able to support his sudden weight, though she did struggle. "You okay?!"

"Aw, shit!" swore Gojyo, moving around to glare at Hakkai. "Stupid stunts that nearly kill you don't impress us, moron!"

"Ah ha ha," laughed Hakkai weakly. "S-sorry about that," he apologized to Ana as he worked to steady himself again but was taking a bit longer than he wanted. "I didn't hurt you, now did I?" he asked of Ana.

"No," she said, shaking her head, though her eyes remained worried. She didn't shrug him off. "You just surprised me…"

"Again, sorry," he said, this time aiming it at Gojyo.

"Crud, Hakkai," the half-demon said, looking away. "Quit making me look bad."

Both of them looked at Gojyo. Hakkai's true emotions showed through his mask and they portrayed confusion.

Goku was kind enough to call attention back to the situation at hand. "Sanzo needs help!" he shouted to break the tension. He looked at Kougaiji. "Some youkai poisoned him, and he won't wake up!"

"Say that again?" asked Kou, confused.

"Is that medicine lady with you? Huh?!"

Doku cut in. "If you mean Yaone, she stayed home. _You_ five met the desert youkai?"

"Yeah," sighed Gojyo. "But he's already dead. If you guys came to fish out his sutra, looks like you wasted your time. Everything he had is buried in that mess."

'_Great. Just great,'_ thought Kougaiji, bitterly. _'The __**minute**__ we're taken off the Sanzo case, we run into them. And the minute I'm assigned to __**this**__ sutra, a desert falls on it. …Dammit.'_ He looked at Sanzo. _'But at least that's not the only sutra around here.'_

However, his thoughts were interrupted by Goku. The young chimp was starting to lever Sanzo up onto his shoulder.

"Oi, Goku. What're you trying to do?" asked Gojyo, obviously not concerned about Kougaiji's presence.

"'M gonna carry Sanzo," informed Goku.

"Don't be an idiot," chastised the kappa. "You can't carry him that far in this heat, monkey."

"Then what else do I do?!" cried out Goku, feeling horrible and strained. "I know we're outta time! An' I know we can't use Jeep! Whatever I've gotta do… _**I won't let Sanzo die!**_"

The words struck Kougaiji and brought forth rather fresh memories.

'_Be sure to hold onto what's most important.'_ That's what that asshole doctor had said.

'_I know that.'_ An image of his friends and sister floated before his eyes. _'Dammit, I know. I've come too far… There's no turning back.'_ He came to a sudden decision. "Wait a minute, Goku," he said, calling the monkey's attention to him. The poor boy hadn't even managed to get Sanzo onto his shoulder yet and he paused. "We came here on a pair of dragons. They're not far from here. They'll get you to town fast enough to save him, I bet." The offer startled Doku, making him wonder what Kou was trying to do. "I'll lend you those dragons… on one condition." He took the hand he had been using to point out the direction of the dragons and pointed to himself. "You kill me first."

The look on Goku's face told Kou exactly how the chimp felt. There was shock and hope. But there was more shock than hope thanks to what Kougaiji just proposed. Kou removed his cloak as he began to speak again.

"If I win, you give me Sanzo's Maten Sutra. If you win, the flying dragons are yours. I'm interested in settling this, Goku," he said solemnly as he dropped the cloak to the ground. "Make your choice."

"…Kougaiji…?" Goku said slowly, trying to judge what exactly the prince was up to.

* * *

"They can try to convince themselves that it's for someone else all they want. Self-interest," mused Ni Jienyi as he puffed at his cigarette, "is still the only force that drives people forward. It's why they live… and why they die." With that, he moved a chess piece on the board rather decisively as Huang looked on with disgust.

* * *

"It's amazing how people change, isn't it?" mused Kannon, somewhere far away. "That Goku boy," s-he continued, trying to make a point. "When he was first brought here five hundred years ago, he was nothing but a little monkey. That's why living things are amusing, Jiroushin. I despise things that don't change." S-he lifted a piece and placed it on the board. "They only succeed in boring me." S-he paused. "…Wait. I just got déjà vu. I think I've said that to someone before."

* * *

"This is where it ends," pressed Kougaiji. Hakkai lifted himself away from Ana to watch these proceedings. The air was tense and Ana didn't dare argue, lest she bring attention to herself. Kougaiji wasn't some adorable kitten to play with. He was a fierce youkai and a strong one, too.

Gojyo grit his teeth, wincing slightly at the taste of sand.

Doku just had to trust his leader. And hope this wasn't a terrifyingly stupid mistake.

"Kougaiji…" Goku said, trying to understand what was going on. "Wh-what's wrong with you?" he demanded as Kou stepped forward to begin chanting some strange spell. "You're all… weird."

The words came from Kou's lips and Hakkai shouted out a warning. "Goku, look out!"

Goku gasped and hugged Sanzo close on instinct as the red wind from before whipped around him, sending sand up to scour at his body. "Hey!" he shouted before coughing harshly as sand got in his mouth. "K-Kougaiji! Quit it! Nngh!"

Kou had taken the advantage of getting closer while Goku was distracted. "Stop hesitating," he said, startling Goku.

"But I—" began Goku.

"What part of this don't you understand?" demanded Kou, not liking that Goku was being so weak. After all, Goku had thrashed him… and now that he was being weak… what did that make the prince? "I'm not your friend, dimwit. I'm your enemy."

Goku's eyes widened in shock just before Kou brought his knee up to Goku's chin and sent him sprawling backwards, yelping out 'Ow!' in pain.

"Hunh," muttered Kou, seriously spoiling for a fight. "If you don't have the guts… then I'll just take the sutra and go."

Aw, shit. Ana froze, having gone to Sanzo when Goku was knocked away. She looked up at the demon with wide, scared eyes, her hand frozen in her attempt to reach out and grab the older man. As Kougaiji approached, Goku looked up in shock.

"No!" he shouted. "Don't touch Sanzo!" He ran forward, using all the speed he had at his disposal. Kou flinched away from the sudden presence of Goku, surprised. But before he could even retaliate, Goku flipped over his head and landed on the other side.

"Tch!" Kou uttered, but before he could turn completely, Goku's fist came and knocked Kou away from Sanzo and Ana.

"I won't let—" Goku turned to look over his shoulder at Sanzo to assure himself he was indeed safe. Ana was there, cradling Sanzo now that Kou was some distance away.

"Go fight, Goku," she said, her fear still present. "I'll take care of Sanzo. You don't have much of a choice…"

Hakkai came over as well and stood next to Ana's crouched form. "Kougaiji's serious about his offer. I can sense his burden… There must be something very important he needs to fight for. I'm sure you can understand that. He's not the only one with something to lose."

On the opposing team, Doku approached Kougaiji. "Uh, Kou? You sure you wanna do this?"

Kou looked up determinedly. "I'm out of regrets, Dokugaku." He looked at Doku, noting the serious look on his right-hand man's face. The corners of Doku's mouth curved upwards suddenly and his features softened.

"Are you now?"

Kou looked away in confirmation.

"If that's the case, I'm not one to stop you," Doku said. There was a sudden singing noise in the air and Doku turned slightly to see the incoming crescent blade. He snatched Kou out of the way with a terse "Watch it!", the blade cutting through the air right where the prince had been but a second before.

The blade retreated and 'shink'ed back into place atop Gojyo's staff. "Don't forget me, boyos," Gojyo said, a smirk in place. "Your little heart-to-heart's leaving me out… and I'm not in the business of feelin' small."

Doku turned to Gojyo and conjured his blade, a bit put out by the arrogant half-human's actions. "You've got my full attention if you want it, _Sha Gojyo_."

"Heh. Just what I wanted to hear," laughed the red-haired kappa, his smirk having grown due to the response. He suddenly moved into action. "Don't hold back, _Dokugakuji_!"

They clashed against each other, straining against their weapons as they tried to overpower each other. "Th-this one's mine, Kou. Now, get moving!"

Back with Goku, Hakkai, Ana, and Sanzo, Goku looked down at Sanzo for a long moment before coming to his own decision. He clenched his hand and turned from his friends. "…Hey, Hakkai." He paused before going on. "Will ya do whatever it takes to stop me?" he asked.

"What?" gasped Hakkai. "You're not thinking of—"

"I know I can't kill him th' way I am now," Goku said, determination in his voice and his face. He reached up to the diadem around his forehead. "But I can't lose."

Ana gasped in shock as he lifted the diadem away. Goku's final words echoed in their minds. "I'm countin' on you, 'kay?" He fell to his knees as pain rushed through his veins.

Hakkai watched with sad eyes as Goku screamed out in pain.

The cries echoed through the desert as Ana's eyes welled up with tears.

'_He took me outta th' darkness… an' gave me a world way brighter than th' sun. Why can I remember it so clearly?'_ The image of four people floated before his eyes, their faces unclear and one's back was turned to him. _'I know this feelin'. I've known it for a long, long time… An' I don't wanna lose that.'_

With those final thoughts, the consciousness of Son Goku slipped into darkness… and a different mind slid into place. The Seiten Taisei…

"What the hell? Did he just…" gasped Kou, having not expected Goku's need to win to be so great he'd actually take off his coronet. As the monkey stood, a cruel smirk in place, Kou gave his most shocked words of all time. "_That's_ Son Goku?"

'_I don't wanna lose that…'_ Such a thought burbled through the Seiten Taisei's awareness along with the image of a group of people he couldn't care less about, though he did remember beating them up the last time he had been aware. He had no idea where the thought had come from. He had no care for where it came from. All he knew was that there was a fight to be had. His body screamed for it. And he was more than willing to oblige his body's demands. The fool of a youkai standing in awe of him… a worthy fight, he supposed. Probably not a really good opponent… but… he'd have to do. Hopefully he was stronger than what his aura let on.

"Damn," said the youkai. "Is that his true form? Is _that_ Son Goku?"

Meaningless garbage. Whatever. Those noises would cease the moment he tore that idiot apart. He straightened slowly, giving the image of a predator that was stalking his prey languidly and without worry. He smirked. His gold eyes were intense.

Away in the background, he sensed the auras of the four he had met last time he was aware. The blonde one, it seemed, was injured… again… was he weak? No matter. After he finished fighting this one, he'd assert his dominance over them. And kill them if they refused to submit. But first, he had to take care of this one. The one threatening what was his.

Stupid, stupid little creature…

He shifted around behind the youkai, the fool too slow to comprehend his speed. But he did apparently sense his aura. The youkai whipped around in a very slow, sluggish movement to his eyes. Damn. Slow. Not going to be much of a fight… but it'll be fine to play with.

He was determined to have fun. With a swift kick, he sent the youkai flying far.

"Hagck!" hacked the demon. "Hgggh!" Blood had come from his mouth. Frail. Heh.

"Shit! What the hell just happened?!" came the voice of the red-haired half-demon.

"He didn't disappear, Gojyo. We just couldn't see him," spoke the green-eyed youkai. Meaningless… all… meaning—

"You mean he was _moving_?" said a female's voice. He paused for a second and glanced over his shoulder. Hm… maybe not meaningless… not completely at any rate. He vaguely remembered her. She was with them before. But now she seemed able to communicate with those fools over there. Smirking to himself in the anticipation of what may come if she let him have her, he diverted his attention back to the youkai even as the green-eyed youkai spoke again.

"He's gotten faster. Goku wasn't at nearly that speed with Rikudo."

"God dammit!" his opponent said, scrabbling to his feet to try and fight him. The Seiten Taisei was actually amused. Had the fool submitted, he might have made his death short and sweet rather than a long game of cat and mouse. The idiot began chanting words that were virtually meaningless to him. The only meaning he got from them was the feeling of power. It was a spell. A pathetically weak spell.

A spirit came up from the sand to try and consume him or at least bury him underneath the weight. Oh, this was amusing. Did that fool honestly think that _anything_ that came from his mother could overpower him? He was his mother's ultimate creation, after all.

He moved forward at a languid pace for him and lifted one claw to shred the spirit. It fled back into the earth at his dispersal, an apology to him for having been used against him.

Whatever.

He came at the youkai and curled the claw into a fist. He swung at the youkai and, surprisingly, the fool blocked it. Barely, though. It cost him. The bone in his arm snapped against the other, rendering it useless. The other one suffered a fracture of some kind, and both arms would be heavily bruised from the encounter. Oh, lovely. That idiot's bone had broken through the skin. He must have done quite a number on it. Hm. Shame.

The youkai was gasping in pain, the red-haired man pulling back from his own opponent in his shock. The red-haired fool's opponent stared in horror at what was occurring. Seems like that one served this one. There was a definite subservient nature there. He smirked.

His hand casually went forward and grabbed the sluggish youkai's hair, pulling it taught. Much to his pleasure, the look of shock was quite nice. Might as well make that pain be more noticeable, then, hm? He used his sharp claws and raked the youkai's chest, his nails biting at flesh and scraping at bone beneath.

"Hgck!" gagged the demon as he fell to his knees. The look of horror and shock was sweet indeed. This was fun.

Blood. On his hands… heh. He lifted the claw to taste the victory that was near at hand… if he chose so. His tongue slid out and licked at the blood. Yes… hm…Oh, some slid down his arm. He licked at that, too.

"This ain't even _close_." That idiot red-head again. "Goku's not fighting. That little bastard's having _fun_."

He chuckled to himself. This idiot… he laid into him, swiping at the limp form with claws horribly sharp. This idiot dared take what was his. This fool of a mortal dared to challenge him. Fool. Fool! _Fool!_ He laughed as blood came forth.

"I'm s-scared, Hakkai," the girl said. He could smell the fear in the air all around. Good!

Hakkai was staring and murmured to himself, somewhat, and to Sanzo, somewhat, "I-I can't help but wonder," said the demon as he watched the Seiten Taisei tear into Kougaiji as he laughed in deep amusement. "How would seeing this side of Goku make you feel?"

"Dammit all to hell!" swore Doku, turning and rushing at the Seiten Taisei. "Hang on, Kou!" Doku brought the blade down on him. He couldn't let this stupid fight go on any—

Lightly, the Seiten Taisei landed on the conjured blade, a smirk in place. The monster was amused. He looked up slowly to stare into scared eyes. Oh, this little mortal fool wished to fight. Although, that look… it was more of fear.

—more… _'That's it. I'm screwed.'_ The subservient youkai didn't even see the punch coming, but sure as hell felt the effects. He watched as the demon gasped for air, crying out in pain as blood fell from his mouth.

"Hakkai," the red-head said to his companion. Noise. "He got him in one hit. This isn't funny!"

"True," Hakkai said to Goku, a pained smile on his face, his eyes having gone stern and fearful. "But what's really not funny is just about to begin."

Ana whispered a single word. "Goku?" Her hands clenched around Sanzo as she stared at the transformed teen. She had seen this… being before. About two months ago. What… what was going to happen?

"Lemme guess," Gojyo grated out. "I get to stop that thing. Like I've got a goddamn chance. Right, Goku?"

The Seiten Taisei looked at them. So amusing. They spoke as though they were equals to him. They should bow down to him. He was the strongest.

"Fine," Gojyo said, not knowing his words were meaningless to the transformed monkey. "Go as ape-shit as you want, monkey."

Even though he didn't understand the words, he didn't forgo the invitation. He was before the red-haired half-breed and swiped with his leg, being very casual about it. He'd rather they submit. But if they didn't… they'd die just like the idiot.

"Crud," managed Gojyo as he ducked the limb and swung Shakujyo at the chimp. He didn't like that as he gripped and bent the weapon with ease.

Idiotic fool. The Seiten Taisei was angry. He wasn't bowing down! Damn. That means he'll have to…

He reached out to bite the red-haired half-demon, but words came from the stupid creature's mouth as he blocked the advancing teeth.

"Knock it off, pissant!" shouted Gojyo, his hand speeding to knock the transformed monkey off the weapon. "I'm freakin' sick of you biting me!"

The move was surprising. Huh… this one was more entertaining indeed. He drew back a clenched fist, making the red-haired hanyou glance at the movement. He laughed softly before he socked the fist into the man's gut. Ribs broke under the force. He could feel it.

"Stupid… hgck!" gasped Gojyo, sliding downwards, unable to stand. "Stop… l-lookin' like you're enjoying… this." He slumped to the ground.

Served him right. He lifted a foot to crush the skull of the insect. However, he was caught off guard when a sudden chi blast caught him unawares. He spun around, angered by the action.

"Haven't you had enough, Goku?" It was that green-eyed demon. "Listen to me." He was babbling nonsense again. "It's been thirty minutes since Sanzo was stabbed. At this rate, he won't last much longer. If you keep rampaging as you are doing now… you're the one who'll end up hurt!"

He smiled. Such amusing twitterings. He didn't know what was said. The language the fool was using was unknown to him. But who cared? He didn't. He'd rather these morons die than have them constantly making these noises and attacking him.

Even more amusing was the look on the man's face. His horror that he expressed when the Seiten Taisei had smiled… hm… He wanted to see if he could make that expression stronger.

He leapt at the man, forcing him to dodge. He shouted some inane word, a word that tickled at his brain and only aggravated him. It was a sound said many times. 'Goku'. What did that mean?

Surprisingly, he was tackled to the ground. This wasn't acceptable. Damn idiot.

"Gojyo! Bring Goku's diadem—hurry!" called Hakkai to his partner.

"D-dammit," gasped Gojyo, trying to get the trinket. Somehow, it had rolled away from Ana and closer to the half-demon.

But he wasn't going to be held down by this fool of a demon. He brought his fist to bear and threw the man off of him and into the one with the broken ribs. Both were down for the moment.

Ana, scared to death, tried herself. She stood and laid Sanzo down on the sand and shifted away from him. She would be the bigger threat as she was the only one left mobile. He probably wouldn't go for Sanzo… Goku seemed attracted to movement. The theory proved true as he turned to look at her rather than look at Hakkai or Gojyo.

Both were injured badly. Ana was all that was left against her friend. "Oh, damn…" she moaned, fearing for her safety.

"That's no youkai… He's a flippin' monster!" Doku said, cradling Kou to him. He couldn't leave just yet, not while that freak of nature… or perhaps, nature's greatest creation… was still free.

Hakkai spared a glance at him for a moment. "That may be… but he's still Goku." Turning back to the scene, he was horrified to see Goku advancing on Ana. "Get out of there!" he shouted.

"Oh, god…" she murmured, barely hearing Hakkai over her own heartbeat. Goku was advancing on her… far slower than when he had attacked the others. He was… "Oh, I don't like cat and mouse," she said, trying to keep him away from the others. "Especially when I'm the mouse…" She was seriously afraid. More so than she ever thought possible.

Annoying noises. She was pretty enough. He reached out and grabbed her forearm none too gently and the bone underneath his fingers bent under the force he was exerting before the two thin bones snapped. He was surprised when he felt an electrical discharge course through him as she cried out in fear and pain as he, too, grimaced. Damn it! She had some kind of power!

He didn't let go. The pain wasn't enough for that. However, that attack was enough for him to bring his other claw up and he readied to slap her. "Let go!" she screamed. Stupid bitch, hurting his ears… He'd find a better one and have her as his own. He slapped her, causing her head to whip around under the force. He had restrained himself from hurting her too much. She wouldn't get anything more than massive bruising on her face and a seriously tender jaw for a few weeks. But to drive the lesson home, he brought his knee up into her gut, making her hack in pain and her eyes open wide. "Hahck!"

He raised his hand and formed a dagger-like shape to drive through her chest.

But before he could kill her, a gun shot went off, making him pause. He let her go, watching her collapse as she stared past him in shock. "San… zo….?" She breathed from her kneeling position in the sand as she cradled her broken arm to her chest, cringing from the pain in her face and gut as well.

He turned and looked. There was the blonde man, standing. His weapon had been pointed at the sky. And now he leveled it at the Seiten Taisei.

"Stop getting worked up. Stupid ape," Sanzo said flatly. The man was beat up, stabbed, and otherwise poisoned, but he was standing. The Seiten Taisei looked at him curiously, gauging the man's strength. There was something about that aura that seemed quite familiar… but it eluded him at the moment.

"Sanzo?!" gasped Hakkai, staring at the sight of the standing priest. _'It can't be. There's no way he could stand up in his condition. And the more he moves, the faster the poison will circulate!'_ he thought frantically.

"Come on," invited Genjyo Sanzo. "If you want me dead, now's your goddamn chance."

Ana looked up at Goku with wide eyes. He was so close to her still. But his attention was wholly focused on Sanzo. She was of no concern at the moment. But… she looked at Sanzo… There was no way he could be standing… or even awake! She had been trying desperately to wake him up, but she couldn't get him to stir.

"Come on. Try and kill me," persisted the Sanzo.

The Seiten Taisei began to walk towards Sanzo, taking the invitation to violence. He could smell the poison in the fool's veins… He had to be strong to be standing, but he was weak right now. Easy to kill.

Sanzo's gun never wavered as the chimp advanced. Hakkai was really the only one conscious enough through the pain to realize what exactly Sanzo did next save Sanzo himself. The priest pulled back the hammer on his gun with a metallic 'chink'.

"…Sanzo!" he gasped.

"Bring it," Sanzo said, resolutely ignoring Hakkai's comment.

The Taisei ran forward, launching himself at Sanzo. In a narrow gap of seconds, several things happened.

Sanzo raised his gun away from the incoming chimp, threw it over his head into the sand behind him. Goku came in close, sensing weakness even as the gun landed. And then the Taisei was caught off guard by a knee in his gut.

"Gahgck!" he gagged as he fell back.

"Too bad," Sanzo said simply. "I don't have bullets to waste on you."

The Taisei wasn't pleased and he bolted upright and glared at the blonde man. He launched himself forward once more and punched at him, missing by a margin. Then he lashed out with his foot and caught Sanzo square in the chin. Sanzo fell back onto the ground and he was suddenly on top of him, raising his hand to beat the shit out of him when suddenly…

The Seiten Taisei paused, staring at the face below him, shock coloring his features. As Sanzo looked up at him, there was a look in his eyes of some sad emotion nearly as ageless as the Taisei was. It confused him. This man was supposed to fear him or fight him! Not…!

No!

Dammit! The monk had gathered up all his power and had summoned the Maten Scripture to surround the monkey and capture him.

"Gah!" yelled the Taisei.

"On Ma Ni Hatsu Mei Un!" Sanzo reached forth and gripped the Taisei's forehead where the limiter once rested. The Taisei himself was powerless to fight the holy magic. Some distance away, the limiter vanished in a golden cloud to sail over and reform around the boy's head. The Taisei had been crowned and Goku's limiter restored. Wild features tamed once more into the gentler visage of Son Goku.

"Ah…" uttered Goku, the energy being suppressed once more. "Aaah! Uh…" His eyes drooped closed and fell forward onto Sanzo.

"Hunh," uttered Sanzo, looking down on his charge. It wasn't surprising to hear the resulting snore.

Hakkai looked on in bewildered shock. _'He brought him back!'_

"Stupid… brat…" Sanzo fell backwards, the teenager resting on top of him, both completely exhausted.

"Sanzo? G-Goku!" called Hakkai. "Ana-dono!"

"P-pre…sent…" gasped Ana, the side of her face already turning colors, probably just like her stomach. She stumbled over, wincing with every step and twitch of muscle. "An' ac-c-couted…"

"Don't talk," Hakkai said gently.

"Kou! Kou, wake up!" called Doku, shaking his prince. "Dammit!" He lifted his burden up to halfway rest on his shoulder, minding the injuries. "Hey," he said to Hakkai, attracting the attention of the once-human. "As much as I hate saying this, we're retreating for now. Everyone needs to regroup." He looked ashamed of such an admittance. "I know telling you this won't help any… but this was more mutual suicide than a fight. I know our side started things… And a loss is a loss." He turned and began to walk towards their dragons. "But despite all that… I can't forgive you for this."

"No. I don't suppose you could," sighed Hakkai. He understood too well, perhaps.

"Ha—" A flash of pain crossed her eyes as she tried to keep her face immobile.

He turned to her. "I'm afraid I can't heal you just now, Ana-dono. We need to get Sanzo back to the town."

"Hck… Yeah… Lemme…" There was pained amusement in her eyes. "Face hurts… not… back…"

He looked at her for a long moment before nodding. "Okay, then… Help me."

He hefted Goku off of Sanzo and motioned for her to take the chimp. He grabbed the bigger and therefore heavier man. Ana managed to sling an arm around her neck and hunkered over enough so a good deal of Goku's weight was on her back as opposed to having to drag him and make it hurt worse. She winced every time the bone in her arm shifted slightly, but she hugged that arm to her bruised and bleeding gut as she balanced him on that particular side.

She got to the transformed Hakuryuu after Gojyo had been retrieved and levered into the back.

Stumbling to a halt, she looked at Hakkai. "Uh… Help?" she winced.

He took the sleeping Goku and put him in the back. When he turned back, he saw her problem. A broken arm… "Oh, dear… I'll help you as soon as possible, Ana-dono."

"Thhanks," she said, drawing out the sound a bit. She pulled herself into the Jeep, pausing to look at the belted-in Sanzo, and settled down next to the snoring Goku.

"Haaah," sighed Hakkai, sitting himself behind the wheel. These injuries were bad… but not near as bad as the others sans Goku. He looked over the steering wheel and spoke to Jiipu as Ana dozed in pain. "Sanzo's still in danger," he said. "W-we have to get to that village. I know it won't be easy, but we don't have a choice. I'm counting on you, Jeep."

The worried transformed-dragon gave an encouraging 'cheep!' in response before Hakkai put the car into gear and began to drive. He did fine for a couple of minutes, but his injuries were making it hard to drive. He gasped for breath as he went over a bump and jostled his injures. He heard Ana whimper as she struggled to steady her broken appendage.

"Nnnh..." he groaned. _'My eyes are blurring. Did I rupture something internally? At this rate I don't know if we'll ever make it.'_ Pressing a hand to his face, he struggled to see if he could get his blurring vision to clear as he continued to drive.

A hand came down over his, steadying the wheel. He looked over his shoulder to see Gojyo's accusing red eyes glaring down at him in annoyance. "G-Gojyo?" he asked.

"Gimmie the wheel. I'll drive," Gojyo said, trying to be reassuring.

"Just get some s-sleep, Gojyo. I heard your ribs crack when I crashed into—"

"Leave me alone!" demanded Gojyo, cutting him off. "Just… gimme the wheel."

'_Quit making me look bad.'_

Hakkai decided with those remembered words to give in. "…All right. Um, thank you."

They continued to drive through the desert. Two of their number were unconscious, one due to poison and the other due to exhaustion. One other member of their group had cracked ribs and the next had a broken arm and bruising all over. And the last one had possible internal injuries.

Talk about a beat up gang of people.

Ana watched as Gojyo drove through the dunes. She would have driven… but… she was tired. And her jaw felt like it was huge. She didn't want to know what it looked like. Hakkai had shifted to the back and was trying to regulate his breathing. Goku was still quite unconscious.

Breathing was a bitch. And she was probably glassy-eyed. Hakkai was. He was probably hurting more than her. Fuck.

Fortunately, when all hope seemed lost, Keigo appeared on the horizon and found them to lead them back. The kid's worried expression was enough to tell them they looked like shit. And Hakkai managed to answer the question of, 'Yes, we killed the desert youkai.'

He was wise enough to skirt around the fact that they didn't incur these injuries until after the death of said youkai. And he managed to tell Keigo that Sanzo had been poisoned. The conscious people were relieved to hear that there was indeed scorpion anti-venom in the village.

A bare ten minutes later, they managed to get to the town and Sanzo rushed to the antidote. The rest of them were shuffled off to beds and given pain medication to those who could take it. Ana's arm was set as were Gojyo's ribs wrapped. Each and every one of them collapsed the moment that they were told that Sanzo had been administered the antidote. And didn't wake up until the day after…

* * *

Again, the book Pandora is by Anne Rice and is a part of her Vampire stories. Pandora, by Greek definition, is a woman who had a box with all the wonderful and terrible things in the world. And when she opened the box, everything save for one last emotion fled the box and spread all over the world. Pandora, in this story, is a vampire who was from Greece and opened the lid on the darkest part of human lore back when she was human… the vampires.

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**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED**

_Volume 6: Chapter 30: Selfish_

_Volume 6: Chapter 31: Pride_

_Volume 6: Chapter 32: Thicker Than Blood_

_Volume 6: Chapter 33: Devastation_

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A lot of chapters done as they were mostly action... And this chapter using the Seiten Taisei's viewpoint was difficult. Well, this is what I request:

_Leave a review._

_I request **eight** signed reviews._

_And **two** anonymous reviews._

_I love people who push that little purpley-blue button..._

_Not to mention, it makes me update faster._

_Review._


	12. XI: Pandora III

**Disclaimer:** Much to my discontent...I do not own Saiyuki. If I did... I wouldn't be discontented, now would I? I'd probably be rich as hell. Which would be nice.

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**Reviews:** Well, eight signed (technically as Blue Tempest was too lazy to log on. ;) and one anonymous review. Works, I suppose. In reply to all these lovely reviews... **Fabulous Monster**, okay, you reviewed the wrong chapter, but I glanced back at IX and remembered the very good advice you gave me. And I am working on that as we speak. I was actually giddy when I realized you had given me good advice and practically danced. I am odd. I will admit that. **Chik-A-Doom**, now you no longer have to wait for several things. One of which is this review. The other I'll make as a semi-separate sort of announcement. **Kim**, here's the update! **Twilight-to-Nightfall**, thank you for the compliment! Hope you enjoy this one. **ViscountessKiera**, it was very interesting to write. I noticed his behavior in all the appearances he made and came up with this as an answer. **Ghost Girl Sora**, please read the upcoming notes for your answer. **Blue-Tempest**, I am laughing on this side of the screen at your review. It was amusing and very nice to read. Try your hand at it, honestly, as there aren't enough good Saiyuki fanfics to go around. And I bow to you, **Risu-san**. As I said, I did enjoy doing that. **FcS**, read the notes just after the reviews! 

**Note 1** The Seiten Taisei was an interesting character to work through and the fact that he speaks in no words and is elemental in nature makes him a difficult write. As in saying to ViscountessKiera, his behavior was of one that wished to be alpha male rather than kill all opposition. He saw Rikudo and Kougaiji as threats to his pack (note he went after them first) and then he turned on his friends and while hurting them, did not kill them. And obviously, throw a female capable of bearing children into the mix... well, you saw what happened.

**Note 2** This chapter is nearly total fabrication. It adds some plot and gives some idea as to what happened after Sanzo blanked out. I'm not saying it really happened, but... well. I'll leave it to your imaginations as to what really happened during that time in the manga.

**Note 3** This chapter also contains a divulged secret that I will be working towards until the end of this story. It is... dun, dun, dun!!! The pairing that you have all been waiting for. But realize it will not happen overnight. Mary-sue pairings piss me off faster than you can imagine. Ana's likable, but not _that_ likable.

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**Chapter XI: Pandora III**

Hakkai awoke the next day bright and early. He sat up in his bed gingerly and shuffled his feet around to rest on the floor. His exhaustion couldn't keep him from habit, so he stood up slowly to go check on the others. Gojyo was fine and asleep in his bed. Goku was as well in the bed next to the kappa's. In the next room was where Ana was supposed to be resting, but she wasn't in there much to his surprise. He moved to the third room and discovered Sanzo laying in a bed and on the floor next to him sat Ana, staring up at him. Her left arm was in a sling and had been splinted to keep from moving. The entire right side of her face was a swollen purple-black bruise that had forced her eye to squint and was shiny from some sort of bruise salve that had been slathered on it. No doubt her stomach had suffered the same treatment.

"Ana-dono?" he called to her, stirring her from her thoughts. She looked up at him and attempted to give him a smile, but her face spasmed in pain rather than a grin of any sort. "Easy now."

She eased the smile onto her face for his assurance. She looked around and picked up the nearby tablet lying on the floor. Someone had given it to her, he could see.

She wrote on it in shaky handwriting as she couldn't steady it too well to keep it from moving. 'Good morning. I can't really talk due to this bruise. It hurts real bad.' She stared at the Chinese script for a moment. She still couldn't believe she could speak, read, and write the language.

"No doubt. You got back handed pretty hard yesterday. I'm glad your neck didn't snap." She looked at him with very wide eyes. The look on his face indicated he wasn't kidding. "I daresay he hit you hard enough."

'I got lucky.' He craned his neck to see the words.

"Yes, you did. Very good for your first encounter with him…"

'I've met him before… Remember Rikudo?'

Oh, yes. He did. But she hadn't faced him directly then. "Not one on one. Only by proxy."

'I still met him before.'

"I'll concede," laughed Hakkai. He looked at Sanzo. "So, do you know his condition?"

'Pompous herbal specialist extraordinaire said he was in a coma. Not wake up for a while. Lucky if wakes up in week.'

"Ah. I take it you didn't like this fellow."

'Over inflated sense of ego. I told him to take his ego and stuff it up an orifice that has yet to be defined by man in those terms.'

"Oh, dear," sighed Hakkai. "And what did he do to deserve this?"

'Told me to lose weight because that's why I got hurt. Ass. I'm almost too light as it is! I don't want to be bulimic or anorexic!' Her writing was comically angry as she jabbed at the paper before slapping the pen down in annoyance. "St-tupid doctor," she stuttered out around the bruise. "Never tell girl tha-t she too fat wh-when she nea-r too skinny. M-my doctor b-back home…"

"Easy," warned Hakkai. "I don't have enough energy to heal that right now."

She gave him a vastly annoyed look. "…Do-ck back home said th-that I need weight 'cuz too sk-kinny."

"I see. And who's advice will you follow?"

"T-the one who wen-t to Baylor."

"Ah… and that wouldn't be this doctor." She shook her head 'no', her eyes flat in her annoyance. He smiled at her, appreciating her information. "You'd better not talk for now. Goku should be awake soon and we'll need food for him. She nodded carefully. Now that she was shifting her head, it seemed that her entire neck was sore as well, but was fortunately not bruised. But it had been terribly strained. "Will you be staying here with him?"

Ana actually blushed under her bruise. She picked up the tabled and ripped off the paper she had been writing with and hastily jotted a note on the other side of the sheet before folding it into a tiny little square. "G-go an' read it-t…" she said, embarrassed and managing a semi-normal speech pattern. "Not here an' get-t rid of it-t compl-etely once d-done…"

Hakkai looked at the wad of paper and then back at her. "As you wish," he said before leaving the room. He went down the hallway and opened the page up. On the front was, naturally, the words she had written before. On the back… He flipped it over to see words that startled him.

'I think I have a crush on the asshole.'

This was… different… Now he knew why she wanted him to get rid of it and hadn't wanted to say it outright. He shredded it into tiny pieces and wandered into the bedroom containing Gojyo's pack and stole the lighter. He would honor her wishes and burn it. It would be safer as he'd rather not get electrocuted. He dumped the shreds of paper into a can and then lit it on fire. The blaze didn't last long, but the result was desired. There would be no reading of the paper after this. He sighed and looked at the building he had stood outside of.

Stepping back inside, he encountered an awake Goku and Gojyo. Goku was professing he was hungry, but the haunted look in his eyes suggested he remembered something not so nice about yesterday's events. Hakkai told him to take it easy, and a similar comment was aimed at Gojyo.

"How's Sanzo?" Goku asked suddenly.

"He's fine," assured Hakkai. "He's on the mend according to the doctor. However, it will be some time before he wakes."

"What about Ana-chan?" the chimp persisted.

Hakkai smiled. "She's okay. She has quite a bit of bruising from yesterday. I think she's waiting for me to regain enough energy to heal her face. She doesn't seem very amused by the fact that she can only somewhat speak due to the swelling."

Goku looked horrified. "Where is she?" he asked.

"In Sanzo's room, if you must know," informed Hakkai, turning away. "She must have gotten up in the middle of the night to check on him and had never gotten back to bed." He turned back. "Do you want breakfast?"

"… I gotta go check…" Goku said, darting off to the two men's surprise. He rushed to where Sanzo's room would be and opened the door. Indeed, Ana was still sitting there, but this time she was sitting in a nearby chair and staring out the window. The bruised side of her face was away from him, so he couldn't see it immediately. "Ana-chan?" he asked nervously.

Her head snapped around and he saw the damage. Well, a part of the damage. Hakkai had somehow forgotten to tell him that the girl had taken and broken her arm. Or rather, he had broken her arm. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, though and stood to come around the end of the bed and over to Goku. She touched his face with a pained smile on hers. "Y-you 'kay?" she asked slowly, grimacing from the pain.

"Yeah. You?" Carefully, Ana wrapped him in a one-armed hug.

"B-better once Sanzo is good."

Goku looked at the prone form of his caretaker, apprehension flooding his features. She released him and saw the look. Her head shifted to one side, a spasm of pain flitting across her face.

"D'you think he's gonna be okay?" he asked.

Ana blinked and grinned, though she had to fight pain to do so. "Y-you're dumb f-for th-thinkin' he not…" A really annoyed look passed over her face. "I h-hate this."

Goku grinned at her. "Poor Ana-chan."

She glared at him. "P-poor nuthin'. I g-got…" She paused then blinked. She shrugged. "I dun' remember. Brain fart."

He laughed a bit, but quieted immediately. A sober look passed over his face. "I'm sorry, Ana… for hurtin' you. I know I did… I… All I remember is trying to kill everyone. It wasn't just Kougaiji. It was Gojyo an' Hakkai an'… you. I…"

"Not-t lis-tening," stuttered Ana around her bruise. "You go eat-t somethin' an' fe-feel better. I watch Sanzo. Hear?"

"Yeah…" He moved off, having felt like he had been rebuked.

He did go get something to eat. And after that, he completely avoided Sanzo's room. The shame he felt for having nearly killed everyone was monumental. And he didn't want to have to face Sanzo when he woke up.

Hakkai and Gojyo saw what Goku was doing. He was avoiding everyone like a kicked puppy. He only got the attention he absolutely needed and avoided the rest.

The rest of that day, Ana sat in Sanzo's room and alternately stared out the window and stared at Sanzo. Hakkai made sure to check on her injuries every now and again to see how they were.

Just like Hakkai's abdomen, Roxanna's was a mass of bruises. As were Gojyo's. Hakkai was just glad that they were all in one piece, mostly. He was worried about Gojyo's ribs and Ana's arm. He was especially worried about Sanzo. Poison wasn't something to be lightly messed with at all.

Later that evening, Hakkai felt he had enough energy to at least lessen the bruising on them. Goku out and out refused such treatment mostly because he felt he didn't deserve it nor needed it, but Gojyo and Ana accepted gratefully.

Hakkai could do nothing for their broken bones, but he at least managed to get rid of most of the cuts and bruises. There were still dark bruises as well as green-yellow patches on Ana's abdomen and face, but the swelling had gone down and she looked normal otherwise. Gojyo's stomach was a good deal better, too, but before Hakkai could completely heal the bruise, Gojyo had told him to stop and take care of himself. Hakkai did as told, remembering the sentiment Gojyo had shared with him the day before. _'Quit making me look bad.'_

In no time at all, it seemed, the next morning came. They dicked about, eating some, mending some. Gojyo was 'persuading' Goku to rewrap his ribs after Gojyo had taken a bath so Goku could pay him back for the damage he had done. Ana hadn't left Sanzo's room save to eat and go to the bathroom. Hakkai had to watch over them all.

Sanzo had yet to waken.

The day wore past, and night came again.

The next day, sometime around five in the morning, Sanzo slipped from his coma and into natural sleep. Around nine, he slipped into REM sleep and began to dream. _'You're all the same in the end! What's so great about a Sanzo priest? There's no power in stupid humans reading sutras!'_ The image that accompanied the words was of the youkai in the desert. _'M-maybe… not…'_ were the words that seemed to be his own voice. The next image was of Gojyo looking pissed and upset. _'Shit, man! Torture? This isn't like you!'__'Then what is like me?'_ echoed his thoughts. Goku's image came to him, then, his gold eyes determined. _'Hit me with th' fan and call me stupid monkey. Okay? That's what Sanzo's like.'_

His mind's eye shifted again. _'…Strong.'_ That was the word. But who…? A new image came to him of Koumyou Sanzo, his back to him. _'Be strong, Genjyo Sanzo.'_ His master's words were there in his mind as he came out of his dream.

Blearily opening his eyes, he looked up at the ceiling. Lifting a hand before his face, he clenched it. "Hn," he muttered to himself. "I'm not strong."

To his surprise, he was answered. "I do believe you're right." He looked and saw Hakkai standing next to his bed with his ever present smile. "But still, at least you're not weak. Wouldn't you agree?" he asked. Sanzo looked back up to the ceiling again and lowered his hand. Again, he was surprised as his hand came down on a splinted arm.

He looked over and saw Ana sitting next to his bed on the floor, her head resting on the bed itself with a splinted arm lying next to her makeshift pillow of her right arm.

"She hasn't gone back to bed after the first night. I couldn't persuade her to," Hakkai informed him, seeing the movement. "Now. I'm here to inquire about your condition, now that you're awake." He gave Sanzo a demanding smile that would accept no foolishness.

Sanzo judged himself for a moment before speaking. "I feel like shit," he said, vastly annoyed with feeling weak at the moment.

"Well, you've been in a coma for three days," Hakkai said. He walked over to the window and opened the curtains to let the desert light in. "I suppose using cuss words immediately is sign enough that you're all right."

Sanzo's eyes slid closed. "It's been three days?" he asked.

"You moved excessively after a lethal dose of poison. Waking up in three days is a _miracle_." Hakkai turned away from the window and approached the bed again. "Had things taken much longer, you wouldn't be awake at all. We were very lucky we made it back to the village. That boy, Keigo, from before found us a bit of a ways from here. We were well on our way to becoming menacing desert skeletons."

Ana twitched, coming out of her own dreams slowly.

"What happened to Kougaiji?" asked Sanzo.

"Dokugaku-san carried him back. I'm afraid he's rather upset with us now." Hakkai gave a very sad smile. "Not that I don't understand how he feels."

Sanzo wasn't sure how to phrase the next question, however his glance at the doorway conveyed much. "Hunh," he muttered, not really wanting to bring it up.

"If you're wondering about Goku, he's in the other room with Gojyo," informed Hakkai, catching the look. "Yes? Or am I wrong?"

Sanzo rolled over slightly so his back was to Hakkai and the door. "…Hell if I care about that dimwit."

Hakkai gave a small, triumphant smile. He knew Sanzo a bit too well, it seemed. "I see. And I seem to recall something you told me earlier. Free of all, bound by nothing, you live your life simply as it is."

Ana's eyes cracked open slightly upon hearing those words. _'Pretty,'_ she thought.

Sanzo, on the other hand, mulled over the words and Hakkai stayed silent as he let the man come to his own conclusions. "I guess I'm the dimwit," he said finally.

"Having realized the truth, please cooperate a bit," Hakkai said cheerfully. "You'll be a nuisance otherwise."

Sanzo turned and looked at the youkai with a bit of a snarl. "Your personality's gone down the tubes."

"No… I'm sorry. You're a little bit right," apologized Hakkai, his smile sad. "We couldn't do a thing… Gojyo, Ana, and I. When Goku lost all control as he did, I remember being terrified by his overwhelming power."

Sanzo just stayed still and listened to the demon. "Back there," Hakkai continued, "_I_ was the one he asked to stop him, you know. I failed in that. And I admit I'm angry about it. Not only that, but _my_ failure resulted in _his_ pain. That makes me even angrier with myself."

He paused, and then left the room, giving an apology as he went.

Sanzo laid back down, still on his side.

"Sanzo?" asked Ana, sitting up and looking a bit mussed up from her sleep. He turned. "You're okay now, right?" she asked.

He looked away. "I'm fine." She smiled.

"That's good. You owe me big time for scaring the shit out of me." He whipped around and glared at her, ignoring the protest his body gave.

"What in the hell do you mean by that?"

"I was scared, Sanzo. Really scared. I was scared you'd die. I was scared Goku'd kill me. I was scared I'd never make it home and die in the desert. I'm still scared that I'll never go home. But seeing as those things didn't happen… You still owe me for scaring me. I don't want to have you die." She paused and then grinned at him. "Juuust one question, though…"

He was still processing what she had said but a moment ago. But he did speak. "What is it?"

"How in the hell do you manage to nearly kill yourself _twice_ in less than two months? And how in the hell did you even survive to this point?"

"That's two questions," he said flatly, not caring or knowing how to answer either question.

"I'm bad at math," shrugged the teen, her face twitching slightly in pain. They heard shouts of pain in the other room. "Huh?"

With Gojyo and Goku, they were engaged in the activity of 'bandage Gojyo's busted ribs'.

"That hurts, dickwad!" shouted Gojyo, holding up his shirt so Goku could bandage his ribs. "Wrap with goddamn _care_!"

Goku was in the midst of wrapping Gojyo's ribs, holding the bandage roll in his right hand as he did so. "This is nothin'! Deal with it!" he protested. "I already said Hakkai should do it an' not me!"

"Hell no—the monkey makes the wounds, the monkey _fixes_ the wounds!"

"Aw, c'mon," Goku said. "I didn't hurt you that—"

"Three ribs!" overrode Gojyo. "You broke three ribs! That's a big fuckin' deal!" Gojyo glared at the monkey to drive the point home.

"I _said_ I was sorry," Goku told him.

Gojyo looked away and scratched at an itch on the side of his head. "Bah!" he said, uncaring. "I want you to _think_ about what you did. First you go on a rampage, then you sleep while the rest of us're hurt."

"I'm sorry," Goku said again. "I'm _really, really sorry_."

Gojyo looked at him and saw the shame and sorrow on Goku's face. Fuck… he had been too hard on him. His arm shot out and grabbed Goku, eliciting a yelp from the teen. Bringing him into a close man-hug sort of deal, he said: "Moron. Ease up, okay? What you did wasn't wrong. Remember that."

Goku looked at him, listening to the words and unsure of where Gojyo was going with this.

"It was the only way for us to beat Kougaiji. And, hey, it turned out all right. Right?" He ruffled Goku's hair, mindful of the diadem.

"Uh… mm…" Goku pulled away and stared at his clenched hands. "I still don't remember it. Or I don't remember _things_, anyway. But I remember my hands. I was really tryin' to kill. An' I wasn't just after Kougaiji, either. I was going to kill you. An' Hakkai. An' Ana. An'… Sanzo, even. That's why I… I… Erk."

Gojyo's foot had made a guest appearance on Goku's head, forcing the short chimp to the floor from the force.

"_What th' hell, Gojyo?!_" he shouted out in anger once the foot had left his head.

"Quit underestimating us, you little snot," Gojyo said, pissed now. "Do you really think we suck so hard that _you_ could kill us? Rule number one. Cut your disgusting little apology for killing me. Open your eyes, idiot. Do I look dead to you?" Goku looked up at the older man. "You couldn't kill me when you tried. Serves you right."

Goku felt much better, but then Gojyo had to go and ruin it.

"'Sides, I'm already planning on dying during sex. I'd never let someone as stupid as you kill me," smirked Gojyo, trying to bring back some of Goku's old bounce.

"That hurt, you perverted kappa!" Goku shouted, glad that things were going back to normal. "Eat this!" He pushed at the kappa as they tussled.

"Oh, boy," Hakkai said, entering the room. "Please, we can hear your noise through the walls." They paused and Hakkai continued. "Sanzo's awake, by the way."

"Yeah? Maybe we should pay our respects to his worldliness," Gojyo mused. Goku, on the other hand, didn't look at all thrilled. He turned and tried to bolt, but his shirt was snagged by Gojyo as he passed. "Not so fast, monkey," said the knowing kappa.

"Lemme go!" protested Goku, straining against Gojyo's arm. He broke loose and the shamed look was back on his face. "Sanzo's gonna be really, really pissed at me! I-I can't just go _see_ 'im!"

Gojyo chuckled. "This from the guy who was worried twice as bad as us," he mused to Hakkai, folding his arms.

"Come now, Goku," reassured Hakkai. "Not even Sanzo's that cold hearted, I think."

"But!" protested Goku, ducking his head.

"Or would you rather leave things the way they are?" asked Hakkai. "Hm?"

"Oh, uh…"

Goku never got his chance to respond as Sanzo slammed open the room door, making everyone jump in surprise. Behind him was Ana, who looked rather fretful that he was up and about.

Goku turned, a nervous smile on his face. "Sa-Sanzo!" he said in relief.

Sanzo just looked at him, his eyes narrowed.

"…Like master coming home to his pet," laughed Gojyo.

"And just after I had told him to cooperate," said an irritated Hakkai, his smile present. "Just a moment ago… Really."

Sanzo leaned against the doorframe and examined his nails like they were more important than Goku. "Goku," he said abruptly.

"Huh? Uh… What?" Goku said, worried.

"I'm thirsty. Get me a beer," he ordered, leaning against the door jam, examining his fingernails.

Goku stared. "Wha?!" he half-shouted, thinking that Sanzo was out of his mind. Then he remembered that he had made Sanzo's injuries worse and cowed to the demand. "I mean… sure." He went over to the small fridge in the corner and pulled out a can of beer before going over to Sanzo and offering it to him with a hung head. "Here."

Ana watched, confused. It was probably not the best thing in the world for Sanzo to drink beer after his near fatal accident, but she didn't speak up. She'd likely be shot down very fast. Perhaps in a literal sense of the word…

Sanzo reached out to the can of beer and then completely bypassed it to settle a hand in Goku's hair. He pushed up Goku's head, drawing a confused look from Goku's face.

"Sa…" His mouth clicked shut, seeing the violet orbs that belonged to the priest.

"You…" Sanzo said softly before moving into action. "You are a stupid monkey!" The fan appeared out of nowhere as he said this and he smacked Goku so hard, the boy actually squawked in alarm as his head was forced down from the blow.

"Owww!" shouted Goku.

"How long are you going to hang your head like an idiot?" snarled Sanzo, not at all liking the fool of a monkey's behavior. "I keep telling you _not_ to jump into things without thinking!"

Goku stumbled out of Sanzo's strike range and towards Hakkai. He looked at the human-turned-youkai accusingly with a finger brandished at Sanzo. "Hakkai!" he wailed. "Ya said he wasn't coldhearted!"

"I also said 'I think'," pointed out Hakkai with an amused smile.

"Feh," snorted Sanzo as Ana came in the room herself. He settled down on the available bed in the room and found his cigarettes and a paper.

Goku sensed that he probably should stay near Sanzo. He felt a major amount of relief. "Man…" he sighed to himself as he sat backwards in the swivel chair that Gojyo had been using. He dropped his head onto the back of the chair and gave a small, near silent laugh.

"And what exactly is so funny?" asked Sanzo, hearing the noise.

"Heh heh," laughed Goku, feeling very relieved. "'M not… laughin'."

"Hunh," grunted Sanzo. "You truly make me ill."

Ana stared at the two, feeling kind of left out as she observed their dynamic. Now that she realized her crush… loathe as she was to admit it aloud to anyone… it was just unfair that he didn't even know. She pursed her lips together and kept her silence, though her eyes showed a bit of her despair.

Hakkai noted her look even as he spoke again to Gojyo. "It seems that the gates of Heaven have been smashed," he joked. Gojyo didn't notice his glance and spoke up himself.

"Yeah, yeah. Sanzo's just a poser," he laughed. "Our mighty priest is really very shy."

He jerked his head as Sanzo's gun fired twice. "Gah!" he yelped even as Ana ducked reflexively. "That was close, you damn sadist!" he shouted. "Someday you're really gonna hit me!"

Much to Keigo's misfortune, he opened the door at that point. "Hi! Sorry to interrupt. I thought you could use some more bandages for—"

He was cut off by Sanzo's words. "Live honorably, and the bullets will miss."

"Oh, crap. Then don't shoot at me. I shoplifted once," Ana said, holding up her good hand as a 'hold on' gesture.

"Wha?" asked Goku, not believing his ears even as he blocked Gojyo's attempts to get at Sanzo.

"You're one to talk, you dirty little priest! And the monkey's in my way!" snarled Gojyo, fighting to get at Sanzo. That brought around Goku's fury.

"Thank you. I'll take those," Hakkai said to a stunned Keigo still standing in the doorway.

"Stop callin' me monkey, ya red cockroach kappa!" roared Goku.

"An' leave Sanzo alone! He's still hurt!" protested Roxanna, also standing in Gojyo's way.

"Whaaat?!" Gojyo said, shocked. "Why're you on that asshole's side?" He turned on Goku, registering the monkey's words. "Red cockroach?! When'd you come up with that one, punk?"

"They seem up and about," Keigo said, trying to absorb the strange actions of this even stranger group.

"Look! Ya've got antennae!"

"Don't pull my—OW!" roared Gojyo, having to wrest his hair from Goku's hands.

"Oh, I can see it! You do have 'em!" laughed Ana, reaching up to grab at Gojyo's hair, too. "I can fix that if you let me cut your hair!"

"Hell no!" cried the kappa, twisting away from the grasping hands.

"See! You're a cockroach! A cockroach!"

"You bean monkey!" spat out Gojyo.

"Yes. Do excuse them," apologized Hakkai to Keigo. "There's no need to worry."

"Silence or I'll murder the three of you!" snarled Sanzo, tired of the antics.

Hakkai smiled, finally at ease. "Everyone's finally all right."

"Please lemme cut your hair!" begged Ana. "I do Tim's all the time, I swear! I'm real good!"

"No!"

"Please!"

"Shut the fuck up you morons!!!"

Another gunshot cracked through the air, sending the three ducking for cover. After that, they decided getting away from Sanzo might be the healthiest thing they could possibly think of.

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Again, the bookPandora is by Anne Rice and is a part of her Vampire stories. Pandora, by Greek definition, is a woman who had a box with all the wonderful and terrible things in the world. And when she opened the box, everything save for one last emotion fled the box and spread all over the world. Pandora, in this story, is a vampire who was from Greece and opened the lid on the darkest part of human lore back when she was human… the vampires.

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**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

_Volume 6: Chapter 34: Always_

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_Leave a review._

_I request **eight** signed reviews._

_And **two** anonymous reviews._

_I love people who push that little purpley-blue button..._

_Not to mention, it makes me update faster._

_Review._


	13. XII: Interlude II

Disclaimer: Wish I did own all of this darn series other than my single set of manga. But I don't, so... See this lip of mine sticking out? I'm pouting. Wish I did own it... Pout.

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Reviews: Honestly, I didn't expect this. I didn't expect to update so soon, but if this little thing happens again, I'm gonna have to slow down on the whole updating thing or increase the number of reviews that I request. I got twelve reviews. Two anonymous and ten signed. I am honestly shocked. Now...

Chik-A-Doom, I believe I answered your question. Actually, this particular story will end at the end of the Saiyuki manga series and once I get momentum again, I'll start a new one for the Reload series (again manga). I don't like the anime. In fact, it is up at the top of my 'Most Hated Animes List'. I'm serious.

Sarah, here's the update!

Sanzo4ever, why, I believe you are a Sanzo fan... How did I ever guess that? LOL. Anyway, I'm looking forward to see what you've got.

Ms. Fortunate, I'm glad you love my descriptions! I try so hard to paint with words. And Sanzo isn't so hard-hearted. He's just... hurt. The man is actually a very loving person but doesn't feel the need to show it or take the risk of getting hurt. Haven't you ever noticed that in the manga? He's harsh, but good.

ViscountessKiera, you made me laugh with your review. I just read it again and got a grin on my face.

Ghost Girl Sora, I came up with the idea when I first started it, because Ana is a good match for Sanzo. She won't take his shit and will stand up to him. And Sanzo, I believe, would appreciate someone with a bit of fight in them.

Fabulous Monster, I believe I replied back to your review, but in case I didn't... I'm still closely following the books because I believe all these little 'divergences' are important to their journey. So, there will still be many of the episodes, but there's going to be a lot more stuff invented as I look at my 'calendar' that I made for all their episodes had tons of free space. Also, Goku's speech is all abbreviated bo-hunk. I've never seen him say 'the'; it's always 'th'.

PhantomoftheBasket, I'd like to see you try to steal my... stuff. What stuff are you asking about anyway? Twilight-to-Nightfall, let me tell you right now, it will be hard getting them together, but I already know when they will, just getting them there is the hard part.

DaydreamerMagby, sorry to disappoint. Goku is too much of a brother figure to me, but maybe one day I'll make him a hunny.

Estriel, I'm glad you like my story. And you're one of the first to pick up on the '-kun'. It is more often used with males, yes, but I was reading Fruits Basket yesterday and realized that Shigure called Tohru 'Tohru-kun'. It's more of a friendship thing coming from Gojyo. He's smart enough to realize that if he did do anything with her and it ended badly, there would be awkward times for all. And I wasn't honestly expecting to update this so soon.

Risu-san, yes. Good luck, Ana-chan.

Oh, and the reason I put each person on a different line is because the bolding and italicizing won't show up for some odd reason.

* * *

Chapter XII: Interlude II

((AUTHOR'S NOTE: And, now I hand you Interlude Number 2… enjoy. There will be no manga chapters completed, I forewarn you. This is for those who want more interaction between the characters. Also, the bit coming up about 'rights to...' won't be explored because Sanzo ended the argument.))

"One, two, go!" Rock, rock… paper. "Yes! I win again!" hollered Ana from the back seat, punching at the air.

"That's no fair!" grumbled Goku as he stared at his rock.

"Damn. How come you are good at this?" asked Gojyo.

They had been playing rock-paper-scissors for a good hour now and Ana had lost perhaps three times total out of the dozens of rounds they had played. When Gojyo would tie with Ana for a win, she usually would beat him. And twenty of the games had concluded as a draw.

"Lucky!" she chirped brightly, scratching absently at the splinted arm hanging from her neck via the piece of cloth fashioned into a sling.

"Leave it alone, Ana-dono," chastised Hakkai without even turning around. Ana gave him a funny look as she settled back in her seat, obliging the demon and leaving the broken appendage alone.

"Next round?" she offered, holding up her right fist.

"You're on!" Goku said, knowing he'd win this round.

"Have at it. I'm out," Gojyo said, settling into his own seat. Ana gave him a funny look before turning back to Goku.

"Rights to redress Gojyo into something more fitting," she betted against Goku. The chimp gave her an odd look, but Gojyo's reaction was more amusing.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, bolting upright despite his tender ribs. "You are not going to do that to me, dammit!" he swore at them.

Goku grinned. "You're on!" repeated the Monkey King, liking the idea of forcing Gojyo into something stupid.

"You won't let me cut your hair, so I'll have to do something drastic," smirked Ana. The two youngest put their fists out only to have theirs joined by Gojyo's.

"If I win, you leave me the hell alone," he betted.

Ana looked at Goku. He shrugged. She grinned at him before grinning at Gojyo. "Deal, Red."

"And I call," inserted Goku, thinking that it might make him win this time. "One… two… go!" He threw a scissors while Gojyo threw rock. Ana got rock, too. "Rats!"

"Tiebreaker?" asked Ana as she held up her fist again.

"Noooo!" protested Goku. "Best out of three!"

"Shut the fuck up!" snarled Sanzo, suddenly standing in his seat as he trained his gun on the three individuals in the back. "You make one more damn noise back there, I will shoot you!"

The three huddled down, trying to make themselves smaller targets so that Sanzo couldn't hit them as easy. "Erk!" yipped Goku. "He's too close!"

"Crap!"

"Don't shoot me!"

"Now, now. Let them have their fun," laughed Hakkai. "Unless you want to join in on their antics, Sanzo."

"Do, so we can see if we can redress you!" piped up Ana.

"Hell no!" chorused Gojyo and Goku. Ana blinked.

"I'm the winner," she said after a moment. "Defacto winner! Yay!"

Sanzo cracked off a shot, making all three flinch downwards again. "There will be no goddamn dress up and you will all shut up! You hear?"

"Yes, sir!" they said simultaneously. He stared them down for a few more seconds before turning and settling in his seat, feeling quite accomplished in the silence he had created.

The three in the back wouldn't be silenced for long, however. They looked at each other. Ana pointed at Gojyo and then at herself and held up her fist. Gojyo smirked while Goku gave off a pathetic look to try and get them to do best two out of three. They held up their fists and pumped twice before throwing their choices.

Gojyo had rock.

Ana had paper.

Ana grinned and opened her mouth to speak of her triumph, but there was a sudden cool barrel pressed to her temple. Her jaw fell slack in response as she turned to look up the barrel and at the owner of the gun.

"What did I say about making noise?" he asked dangerously.

"You didn't say anythi—" She looked at his stern expression. "No more noises unless I wanna be Swiss Miss."

His eyes narrowed and he removed the gun. Ana only breathed a sigh of relief after he was looking away. But she did grin at Gojyo, who wasn't looking too happy. She gave him a thumbs-up and a grin before settling back in her seat. She got what she wanted. Gojyo would probably like the idea of a hair cut after she got done with him. She snickered quietly to herself. This was gonna be fun.

The kappa didn't seem too keen on the suddenly very amused Ana. He watched her warily as if she'd turn into some sort of monster or something. She grinned at him widely in return. Goku looked amused by Gojyo's actions, but didn't say anything. After all, no one wanted to incur Sanzo's wrath this early. He had to simmer and cool down for a few minutes before they harassed him again.

...Sure enough... ten minutes later... "I don't care! You aren't playing dress up with me!"

"I am and that's that!" Ana said in retort. "You lost. I won. Ha!"

"Ha ha! Gojyo's gonna be put in a dress!" laughed Goku.

"No!" shouted the kappa in horror. "You aren't doing that shit to me, you crazy brat!"

"If I promise I won't put you into anything girly, will you let me?" asked Ana, giving him a wide-eyed innocent expression that would be constituted as 'puppy eyes'.

"There's a hell of a lot of things that aren't 'girly'!" protested Gojyo, fighting to not succumb to the eyes.

"But if you won't let me cut your hair, I've gotta do somethin' to make you look less like an idiot!"

That made everyone freeze. Sanzo, though they couldn't see it in the back (but Hakkai did), had an amused expression on his face.

"...What do you mean, I look like an idiot?" Gojyo asked carefully, slightly angry.

"Weeeeell," she began and then pointed at the pants. "What ever possessed you to pick up those pants? They're terrible." She then pointed at his boots. "Those are bad, too. But not as bad as the pants." She moved her finger to point at the shirt and blue vest. "Those are better and generally workable and fine, so they slide." She then pointed at the headband. "And I hate that thing." Understandably so, as the character on his headband read 'pleasure'. "'Sides, Gojyo," she finished, "I don't think that shade of blue fits very well on you. Honestly, with that red hair and those red eyes of yours, I'd rather try an emerald green or an amethyst purple. Maybe a sapphire blue. Definitely a pure jewel tone."

Gojyo stared at her, uncomprehending of her words.

Goku stared at her, trying to process what she had just said and it was indeed beginning to click.

Hakkai was looking forward with an odd smile on his face, wondering what exactly the result of this particular pronouncement would be.

Sanzo was silent, trying to ignore it all, though there was a very amused look on his face with it turned away from them.

The car was silent for a long moment.

Then Goku cracked up. "Wah hahahahaha!" he cackled, falling over in his seat to half-land on Ana. "Gojyo in _purple_? This I hafta see!"

That broke Gojyo out of his own respective silence. "Shut the fuck up, you damn monkey!" he shouted at Goku, half-standing in his seat in an attempt to get over Ana and to Goku. But then he remembered who wound up making Goku laugh. "You!"

"Eeep!" she yipped as he dove at her, his fingers curled menacingly before he enacted his plan. "No! Nononono! Stoppit! Hah! No! Stop! Hee!" she gasped, trying desperately not to giggle as he simultaneously had her in a headlock and was tickling her side. "Hahahaha! No! Sto—hahaha!"

"Ana-chan!" yelped Goku. "I'll save ya!" He jumped at Gojyo, trying to wrest her away from him. Chaos reigned in the back seat and limbs were everywhere in a tangled mess as the noise escalated from normal hubbub to shouts of laughter and noises of a fight.

There was an echo of a gunshot in the air and they froze. The picture was quite amusing. Ana had her arm out of her sling and was trying to keep it from being banged up and jostled, so it was sticking straight out towards the back. Gojyo had his arm around her neck with her back to him, but somehow she had curled her legs back so her feet were poking out behind him while his legs were poking out front, one under Goku's ass and the other up and over his left leg. As for Goku, his arms were out, one holding Ana's good arm while the other was pushing on Gojyo's face. His left leg was braced against the back of Hakkai's seat and his right leg was curled somewhat up underneath him as extra balance.

Sitting in the front, Hakkai continued to drive with a fixed and slightly annoyed smile on his face.

Sanzo, on the other hand, was looking at them with a very dark look on his face. "Shut. The. _Fuck_. _**Up**_." The priest was standing on his seat, braced by one foot in the floorboards and the other on the seat itself. His look was dark and deeply un-amused as he kept his gun trained on the three fools in the back. "Unless you really want me to put you out of your misery right now. And one more thing. There will be _no dress up_." The tone he kept was chilling in the fact he hadn't yelled at them one bit. He was saying it in a calm, level voice. The three of them immediately fought to disentangle themselves from each other with frightened looks.

"I believe you'll be able to work out your frustration in a second, Sanzo," offered Hakkai, braking as he said it. "We have incoming."

"Fuck," Sanzo swore as the trio in the back were relieved to finally be apart from each other.

"Ya better stay in Jeep, Ana-chan," Goku said to the girl. She gave him an extremely dirty look. He flinched back from it. "Or not!"

"Thanks for your vote of confidence," she said dryly, replacing her arm in the sling.

"I'll have to agree, Ana-dono," Hakkai said as they all waited for the appearance of the youkai. "Your arm isn't good for fighting."

She looked around and saw the unanimous look of 'get the hell back into Jiipu' on everyone's faces or a close approximation of it on Hakkai's and Goku's. "Wha?" she said at a loss. "But..."

"Back into Jiipu," insisted Hakkai, pushing her towards the transformed dragon. "Now."

"But!" she looked around, upset. "Gojyo's gettin' to fight! And he's got broken ribs! Isn't that worse?!"

"You still aren't that good at even one on one fighting yet, Ana-kun," Gojyo told her. He reached over and hefted her up rather easily into the back of Jeep. "Stay." His blood-red eyes bored into her coffee-brown ones with the order before turning away and summoning Shakujyo.

"I'm not a fucking dog, you ass!" she yelled. She didn't like this one bit. She had a busted arm, but that wasn't reason enough to treat her as an invalid! "I don't want you people having to take care of me all the time!"

But her protests were stopped from going any further as the youkai made their appearance.

They sped towards the ikkou with their usual battle cries. Ana stared as the others went into action. It wasn't a very big fight. There were about twenty of them, so everyone (had she engaged into the fight) would have gotten about four apiece, but as she was forced out of the fight, everyone had approximately five. The fight itself was ludicrously short and over with in a matter of minutes. There was hardly even any time for jokes, puns, and any other sort of festive words.

"Nnnh..." muttered Ana as the last fell under Hakkai's chi blast. She slumped in her seat as they turned back to Jeep and his lone occupant. "Not fair..." she muttered.

"Life's hardly fair," Sanzo said to her. She jerked her head around, reddening slightly. The priest, thankfully, assumed it was from anger rather than from a crush.

"So?" she bit out. "I demand the right to do as I want."

"Then you can leave." The chill words stopped them as they looked at Sanzo who was looking at her with absolute seriousness. "You heard me."

"But..." she said before she faltered. "But... I... I have no where to go..." _'And I don't want to leave...'_

"Then you will do as I say."

She bristled at that. "Hey! That's like saying I'd better submit 'cuz I'm a woman! I've got rights, pal!" Ana shook her fist at him. "I damn well like my rights! And if I were at home, I'd be votin' and watching movies and going to clubs and not here backpacking around China! I'd be having a life, for crying out loud! But thanks to fuckin' fate, I'm here... God knows where... and stuck with a bunch of men! Men that are all damn well older than me! Let me tell you right now how that looks! It looks like I'm a damn whore! How does that make me feel, huh? All this time, you've been concerned about you and not at all worrying about me and all I have been able to do is trot along behind you people and hope to God that I'll be able to go home someday soon so Tim an' Mama an' Papa an' Jake all know I'm okay! That I'm not dead and lying in some damn ditch after having been raped or some shit! I wanna go home!"

By the end of her rant, she was crying tears of anger as she continued to shake her fist at Sanzo. Once her words were gone, she rubbed at her eyes using that fist as she began to hiccup. "Hic! I want to go home! I don't even belong -hic- here! I'm not Chinese! I shouldn't be fighting de-hic-demons! I should be at home being perfectly dull and average! Hic! _Damn hiccups_!"

Everyone was staring at her in shock and no small amount of horror. Gojyo seemed to be the most disturbed as he climbed into the back of Jiipu and hugged her. "Hey, calm down, okay?" he said to her as she continued to cry and hiccup, this time in his arms rather than just alone in the back. He glared over her head at Sanzo, giving him an extremely ugly look.

"Ana-chan?" Goku said, looking at her and trying to comfort her as he too climbed up more or less into the back seat. "Hey."

Hakkai looked awkward and his gaze shifted from the crying Latina to the seemingly steadfast-but-really-uncomfortable Sanzo still standing in the place he had received the rant from. He glanced at Goku. "Goku, get in and settle down. We're leaving now," he said gently, afraid to set off another explosion. He gave a look to Sanzo, watching as the older man stepped up into his customary seat and he followed suit.

The silence was deafening as Hakkai shifted Jiipu into gear, even the dragon not wanting to make a noise. As they drove away from the scene of yet another youkai battle that had shockingly become all too common for the crying girl.

Sanzo had, in an unintended way, gotten the very silence he so very wanted. However, the blonde man kept his eyes resolutely forward and his mouth shut, wondering exactly why he felt bad for having gotten what he wanted. He wanted to say that she was wrong. That he had been concerned about her safety and making sure she didn't damn well die on them. But the words, even though they were true, seemed like all they would do would be to incite more arguments and more yelling because after what she had said, his words would sound hollow. They would sound like they were just to appease her rather than the actual truth, which would probably make her angrier than she was now.

The silence persisted for a while before they set up camp and the young woman quietly ate her meal before retiring. Gojyo and Goku had tried to lighten the atmosphere, but it didn't work out well at all. After all, how can one be light hearted when one doesn't even know the best way to go about it?

Ana sat in Jeep, her face turned away from firelight and those that she considered friends. Her eyes stared out into the darkness as she tried to figure out what to do. "Tim…" she murmured. "Mama… Daddy… I'm sorry if you are worrying about me… I'll try and get home soon…"

With that, she drifted off into a restless sleep. The others eventually congregated in Jeep, but all of them left her alone. It was no wonder for all her screaming and yelling that they did so.

The next day, she woke up feeling more refreshed. Goku was still snoring beside her and Gojyo was gone. Ana glanced at the front seats and found that both Sanzo and Hakkai had vanished as well. She frowned to herself before levering out over the side of the Jeep, the transformed dragon giving off a soft 'kyuu' at her movements. Ana patted the hood with a small amount of respect, earning a happy chirp.

With the small dragon's happy note, she turned away from the vehicle and started scanning the area for the others, praying that there wouldn't be any youkai near enough that would attack her the moment they saw her. Unfortunately, there was no one in sight and she groaned inwardly.

The Latina began walking away from the jeep, scanning the area for any signs of the others. But what she didn't know was that she was walking the completely opposite direction of where Hakkai and Gojyo were gathering firewood for breakfast. She also didn't know that she was walking straight at Sanzo who had decided alone time would be good right about now.

No matter how long she might have not known this, she found out in fairly short order. Sanzo was leaning back against a tree, smoking and staring off into the distance. Instantly, the feelings from last night welled up. Ana turned on heel and stepped back towards Jeep.

SNAP!

The sharp sound of the breaking branch was instantly complimented with the sound of someone moving rapidly and a hammer being drawn back with a click. Ana spun around to see Sanzo lowering his gun, his cigarette still in his mouth and his eyes hard.

The Sanzo priest looked at the girl before him and felt a major bit of annoyance. She had scared him and he had nearly shot her on instinct for having startled him. Not only that, but he was unsure of how to proceed as she looked at him with wide eyes and looked overall rather pathetic, what with that arm in that sling and her hair slightly messed up from the night before.

"I didn't mean to bother you, Sanzo," she said quietly to him, though there was a tinge of steel to her voice. "Excuse me." Ana turned to walk away and he found himself doing something he didn't expect.

"You're wrong," he grunted out, pulling the cigarette from his lips.

Ana looked over her shoulder, confused. "Huh?"

"What you said yesterday was a load of bullshit," he finished, turning away.

He thought that was a good enough 'apology', but she certainly didn't seem to think so. "Oh, really?" she bit out, making him look back at her. Now she was facing him fully and her good hand was fisted at her side. The Latina was the very image of anger. "And what about the bullshit _you_ said, asshole?" He looked at her coolly, waiting for her to continue even though she was wanting him to apologize straight up. "You know," she said after a moment, "the crap about me leaving if I don't follow your damn orders?"

He twitched slightly at her words. Turning around, he marched right up to her, his amethyst eyes boring into her upturned onyx. "Well?" she said to him, not daring to admit her heart was pounding at him being so close. Unfortunately, it hammered harder when he grabbed her chin and the steel in her eyes softened in her shock.

Forcing her to keep looking at him, he said very lowly, "I don't give a damn whether or not you follow my orders, but I'll tell you right now: If you don't, your likelihood of dying goes up quite a bit. I don't give a fuck if Kanzeon Bosatsu himself told you to come with us. I'll dump your ass off at the nearest town if it grows too dangerous for you to stay. Do you understand me?"

The priest happened to have his thumb pressed against a vein in her chin and was confused as to why her blood was pulsing so fast. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact her face was now turning red and there wasn't near as much anger in her eyes anymore. Damn girl was blushing. He released her and stepped back before walking around her to go back to the Jeep.

Ana, on the other hand, stood frozen as she tried to calm her heart and banish the blush from her face. She was mere inches… centimeters… whatever… from kissing Sanzo! "Nnhh," she muttered, clamping her good hand to her head. "Why me?" she bemoaned. The Fates, it seemed, conspired against her. Why in the hell did she like such an ass? A fine ass at that, though it was hard to tell under all that cloth.

So much for controlling the blush. It was back an instant after she thought that last bit and started beating her head with the heel of her hand, trying to get rid of the conjured image of Sanzo's backside. "Gah! This is irritating!"

"Actually, I'm finding it rather nice," a voice said. Ana whirled to one side to see a pair of demons looking at her rather hungrily. "After all, with Sanzo out of the way, you'll be a perfect hostage," said one, identifying him as the speaker. "Of course…" His eyes traveled up and down her body, as did the other one's, making her feel rather undressed.

"I'd say she'd be a perfect fuck, too," the second said, his fangs bared into a horrible grin.

Ana immediately took a step back, trying to figure out how to get out of this mess Sanzo unknowingly left her in. "Look," she said, bringing her lightning to the surface and especially charging her good arm. "If you don't get out of here…" Small lavender sparks jumped up her arm, creating a rather soft sizzling sound. "I'm not sure if you'll survive."

The two demons looked at each other and laughed, apparently thinking that an eighteen-year-old girl with a broken arm would be no challenge to take and do whatever they wished to against her will. "If you were anyone else in the Ikkou, you dumb bitch," chortled the second demon, "I'd believe you!"

"Your loss," shrugged Ana before flicking her hand out in a surprisingly instinctive gesture towards the one that had called her a bitch. The lightning shot out of her hand in a sizzling-snapping arc, filling the air with ozone, and connected to the youkai. A small boom ensued, echoing the might of natural thunder, as the very dead demon hit the earth. His burned flesh was steaming and his hair filled the air with a rather acrid stench. Ana fought the instinct to gag. The first youkai did indeed gag, stumbling backwards from the stench and the corpse of his buddy. He looked at her in shock.

"What the hell?!" he said, his eyes wide in horror. One final glance at his buddy made him make up his mind rather quickly as he turned to run. "Screw this shit!" he said as he ran away. "I'll be back, bitch!"

Ana stared after him before looking down at her hand. Again she had killed. She placed the hand against her forehead even as Sanzo, closely followed by Goku, came back into the clearing, both with weapons out and looking for the threat.

"What the hell happened?" snarled Sanzo, looking around and spotting the corpse. Goku was giving it a disgusted look.

"I bet that tastes nasty," he mused aloud.

"Thanks for that enlightened view of the fact I just electrocuted him to death," Ana said blandly.

"You were attacked?" demanded Sanzo, giving her a concerned look.

"Yeah. They came not too long after you left and said I'd be a perfect hostage… and something else I don't care to repeat in front of Goku." It drew a curious look from the chimp, but Ana definitely believed that, of the two of them, Ana was the one with the more mature mind. Goku was almost childish with his view of the world and she really didn't want to talk about 'rape' in front of him. She didn't want to destroy his innocence any further than it might have been.

"They?" asked Goku. "Y'mean that there was more than one?"

"Uh, huh. Just one more. How did you guys find out?"

"We felt the youki and heard a clap of thunder," Sanzo said blandly. He walked over to her and grabbed her good arm, dragging her away from the corpse and back towards the jeep.

"Hey!" protested the teen. "What the hell?!"

"You obviously can't take care of yourself," Sanzo said. "Now get your ass back to the damn car." Goku came along behind them and when Ana shot him a pleading look, he shook his head.

"You scared us, Ana-chan," he said softly, making it well known that he'd let Sanzo continue man-handling her. When they made it back to the jeep, Hakkai and Gojyo were there, the former looking somewhat fretful.

The two saw her and immediately came forward. "What was it, Sanzo?" asked Hakkai. Gojyo looked at their leader before glancing at the two teens near him, one forcibly in his grip.

"_Ana_ here," he grated out, making the nickname seem more like a swearword in his anger, "Managed to find herself in a _fight_ right after I_left_. She was _very lucky_ that she hadn't been _hurt_." He said this with her eyes trained on Roxanna, making her flinch a little further from him with every stressed word though his hand still remained clasped about her bicep like iron.

What made it worse was that Hakkai and Gojyo were both looking at her in something akin to shock. And then Hakkai went into mother hen mode. He immediately pried Ana out of Sanzo's grasp and began checking over her arm, making sure it hadn't been jarred despite Ana's loud protests.

"I didn't even touch them!" she shouted.

"Then how did you electrocute them?" asked Hakkai, both eyebrows raised.

"I pulled a Zeus!" she yipped, trying to twist away from the green-eyed demon. She was suddenly wishing she was back in Sanzo's grasp. At least he wasn't trying to examine a tender limb while doing a Spanish Inquisition.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" demanded Gojyo.

"I threw lightning at them! They were still five feet away when I roasted that guy!" Ana insisted. They all looked at her confused. "What?!" she demanded.

"What's 'five feet'?" asked Gojyo. "Other than the obvious…" He lifted a foot off the ground as indication. She blinked.

"Um… about…" She thought back to many rulers and how many centimeters there were per foot approximately. "Around 150 centimeters away from me…" she said, doing the quick math. "Can you let me go now?"

They all looked at each other and frowned before Hakkai reluctantly released her. And then he got into the scolding.

"That was very dangerous," Hakkai said to her. "You could have been killed. Why didn't you run?"

"Because—"

Hakkai wasn't through lecturing, though. "You could have, regardless of how close they were. Your arm is _broken_, Ana-dono. That means that you have less defensive ability and less offensive ability than normal."

"But—" Her face was conflicted.

"No buts," he said overriding her again. "I don't care what you may think, but you could have been killed and I don't think anyone here really wants to have to bury you and, had we ever found out where you're from, tell your family that you would never come home. I'm sure your brother Tim wouldn't be too pleased at all to know his baby sister died due to her inability to use her head in a situation and get help."

"Stop using my family against me!" protested Ana.

"Hakkai's right, Ana-kun," Gojyo said. "I'd really rather not have to bury ya." He ruffled her hair, much to her annoyance.

"Now that you've all ganged up on me sufficiently, when can I get some breakfast?" demanded Ana hotly, secretly ashamed that she had scared all of them. The males of the ikkou glanced among themselves before looking at the second shortest of their group.

Hakkai gave her a somewhat fixed smile. "I've already finished preparing it, so it is quite soon, I assure you," he said to her. Ana's eyes flicked away from him to focus on the ground. "Breakfast, anyone?" he asked, looking around to the others.

Naturally, Goku's reaction was predictable. "Yeah!" shouted the monkey-like teen. "Let's eat!"

"Damn monkey," muttered Gojyo. "Always thinkin' with your stomach."

"Now, now," laughed Hakkai. Already the incident was being put to one side, things going back to normal. Ana breathed a sigh of relief internally and then made the mistake of looking at Sanzo to see his progression to normal.

Sanzo, it seemed, was not interested in letting the incident fall to the wayside. His violet eyes and frowning mouth were in full force, making sure to let her know her little stunt hadn't been forgotten and that it was only being dropped. Ana, for some reason, felt like he was warning her 'three strikes and you're out'. And it felt like she just scored strike one. '_Shit_', thought the youngest member of the ikkou. It certainly didn't help that her heart decided to do a jig every damn time he even looked at her with them damn violet eyes. '_Looks like this isn't going to be easy to get back on his good side… If I was _ever_ on his good side, that is._'

The food was basic, as per usual. But of course, that didn't stop Goku from declaring it was delicious and making vast progress on trying to devour over half the meal prepared. Gojyo fought with Goku, trying to get more food more for the reason of messing with Goku rather than actual hunger. Ana ate quietly and slowly, watching the two interact… and Sanzo's silencing of them mere moments later with his gun.

All of a sudden, Goku decided to chirp out, "Guess what?"

Gojyo gave him a bland look. "What, midget monkey?" he asked before popping some more grub into his mouth.

"Don't call me a monkey!" snapped Goku.

"Now, now. Don't fight," Hakkai said. "What were you going to say, Goku?"

"Next week's my birthday!" Goku said happily. "An' I'm gonna be nineteen!"

Sanzo ignored the byplay between the others, busy smoking a cigarette and looking over an increasingly bedraggled paper. His bowl was off to one side as his eyes flicked over the script on the page.

Ana, on the other hand, looked downright shocked. "You're gonna be _nineteen_?!" she asked, incredulous. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Goku looked abashed. "I kinda forgot for a while," he said. Ana couldn't do anything more than stare at him in a very incredulous manner. Goku fidgeted under her gaze. "Eh, heh…" he laughed nervously.

Tearing her eyes away from the fidgety monkey, Ana proceeded to devour the rest of her meal before excusing herself. At Hakkai's look of instant disapproval, she had to clarify, much to her embarrassment. "I'm going to the bathroom!" she said, irked at the fact she was blushing. Hakkai responded with a similar blush and an apology before Ana left.

When she was out of sight, Sanzo began to speak.

"Is there any way we can justify leaving her in some damn town?" he asked.

"Not really," Hakkai said after a quick glance at the priest. "Kanzeon Bosatsu said to bring her along… We really have to obey orders."

"Why do you want to dump Ana-kun off?" asked Gojyo of the priest.

"Every damn time we get even moderately close to danger, she winds up hurt. Today she was lucky. Tomorrow she might not be."

"Ah…" Hakkai said, suddenly enlightened. "I see. You wish to keep her safe rather than keep her close." Sanzo's sour grunt was all he needed to confirm it. "Unfortunately, Sanzo… it is probably the very fact that we are keeping her close is keeping her relatively safe. She's identified as a member of our party, Sanzo. It wouldn't be safe to leave her behind where she may be ganged up on. Not to mention we at least made the promise of trying to get her home. Do you want to rescind on that promise?"

"'Re-send'?" asked Goku, confused by Hakkai's fancy word.

Hakkai glanced at his friend while Sanzo mulled over his words. "It means 'to take back'," he said helpfully. The enlightened look that passed over Goku's face was missed as the youkai looked back to Sanzo for his answer. ((Author's Note: I actually had to look up that word, 'rescind'... I couldn't remember how to spell it for the life of me.))

Sanzo's visage was stormy and conflicted. He was a softy. _That_ he couldn't deny no matter how much he tried refuting it to Gojyo with a shot and a shout. He wanted to make sure the damn teen lived, not die due to negligence on their part. He didn't have an answer for Hakkai.

Ana came back to tense silence and looked around at them, wondering what was wrong. "Um… I'm back," she said somewhat unnecessarily, as they had seen and/or sensed her approach.

Sanzo abruptly stood, the motion sending the others to their feet as well. "Good. Let's get going," grunted the priest.

Hakuryuu, who had transformed back into his little dragon form for food, took to the air at the words and flew just far enough to turn back into his iron vehicle form.

They all piled in and took off, headed ever-more towards the sunset.

* * *

Naturally, things progressed as per usual in the ikkou over the next week. There were a couple of fights with youkai, more than a couple amongst each other, and the one stop at a town somewhere in the middle of the week. It just so happened that they were in a town on the eve of Goku's birthday. 

The chimp was ecstatic. Most times, his birthday wasn't that huge of a deal because Sanzo wasn't interested in parties. But he usually got a small party, a small get-together, courtesy of Hakkai with a present or two to mark the occasion. But as Ana was now here…

"Hey!" Goku said excitedly, looking at a display and totally not thinking about his impending birthday at the moment. "Meat buns!" He turned to Sanzo. "Can I have some?" Sanzo was the walking ATM, so all financial things went straight to the 'bank'… so to speak. The ATM apparently felt like pasting an 'out of order' sign across his chest, because he glared at Goku.

"You're getting dinner with the rest of us," he said shortly.

"Aw! C'mon, Sanzo!" plead Goku. "Just ten!"

"You might as well," Hakkai said in an observant tone.

"He'll whine all the way to the inn and you damn well know it," groused Gojyo, puffing at a cigarette.

Ana, surprisingly, wasn't present to add her own comment. She had merely pushed by Sanzo and Hakkai to go check out the town some fifteen minutes ago… with Hakuryuu as her personal chaperone as he was spending less time on Hakkai's shoulder. Gojyo made some comment the other day when the little dragon had relocated himself to Ana's shoulder. It was basically about how Hakuryuu was more attracted to Ana's pretty face than Hakkai's. Hakkai had given him a particularly confused look as though he didn't understand what exactly Gojyo had meant… and probably left the subject alone due to the idea it was definitely wiser.

Sanzo, not really wanting to deal with _three_ morons harassing him for hours on end, dug into his sleeve where he kept most everything he needed on hand, including his gold card. He blinked, looked in the sleeve itself, and the most peculiar expression filtered over his face. The expression of befuddlement was not one that normally graced Genjyo Sanzo's face. He immediately checked the other sleeve, much to the confusion of his companions.

"Uh, Sanzo?" asked Gojyo, his eyebrows raised.

"What?" snapped out the priest, checking the upper half of his uniform for possible stashing of his card and not at all paying attention to Gojyo.

"What exactly…" Hakkai trailed off as the figurative light bulb lit up in his head. "Oh, dear. You lost the card."

"Dammit," swore Sanzo, trying to figure out where it went. "Start looking around or else you'll be dead if we don't find it." He froze, an idea occurring to him. He literally growled. Turning and looking at the trio who had begun to look over the ground in the surrounding area, he snarled at them. "Better yet, go get Ana and drag her ass here."

"Uh… why, Sanzo?" asked Goku, looking up.

"That damn brat stole my goddamn card," Sanzo bit out. "Now go _find her_."

Speaking of Ana…

The teenager was looking around the town, gazing at various stands and commenting to Hakuryuu about the things they had seen.

"Pretty lady, would you like to look over some of my wares?" asked a merchant, trying to reel in a potential customer. Ana, having nothing better to do, complied and saw some very pretty jewelry. "Wow," she murmured, wanting to touch the pieces or perhaps even buy one.

But she backed off. "Sorry, mister. I'm looking for a present for a friend. And I don't think he'd be too big into this stuff."

"What about you?" wheedled the man, looking somewhat eager. "A pretty lady needs a pretty necklace." ((A/N: I just realized that sounded vaguely Disney's Aladdin. 'A pretty necklace for a pretty lady.'))

"No, no," waved off Ana. "I gotta go."

She turned and trotted to another stand, trying to see if she could find a good gift without shelling out too much money. Sanzo's gold card was in her paws and she could buy anything she wanted due to that fact, but she was feeling very conservative. After all, it _was_ Sanzo's money.

The Latina wandered around for another fifteen minutes before she turned square into someone's chest. Both parties let out an 'oof' and Hakuryuu cheeped in surprise.

"Ana-kun!" a familiar voice said as a hand wrapped around the upper part of her good arm and Ana looked up to meet the red eyes of one Sha Gojyo, who had done her the service of stabilizing her after she had stumbled back from his chest she had so kindly collided with.

"Uh… what's wrong?" Ana said, trying to not look guilty. It was highly likely that Gojyo was here due to the fact she had stolen Sanzo's card. And Sanzo, being very good at delegating duty, probably had sent them out looking for her.

"Did you steal Sanzo's card?" he asked her, looking her over. She managed to keep from cringing away at the accusation but she did wince. "Shit. You've got the damn card? You pissed Sanzo off real bad."

She looked down, shamefaced. "I was just trying to get Goku something for his birthday," she mumbled.

Gojyo observed her posture and tone. He looped an arm around her and hugged her, guarding his still-tender ribs. "C'mon. Let's go get the chimp something," he said, momentarily burying his nose in her hair. "Sanzo can damn well wait to get his damn cigarettes. And Goku doesn't have to have his meat buns."

"I'm assuming that this came from Goku and kinda went downhill," Ana said, looking up at the kappa. While she wasn't entirely comfortable in his arms, she kinda felt secure and safe. Like… Tim… She blinked, filing this information away.

"Something like that," he said with a smirk. "Do you have any idea what Goku might want?"

She shook her head, paying no mind to the hubbub going on about them. "No, but I'm sure he'd love anything I'd get. He seems the type."

Gojyo laughed and turned her loose from his hug but kept an arm around her shoulders as he began to maneuver her through the crowd. "Probably, but we'd better get something he likes just in case. Now… Let's see here…"

The two of them looked about the market, trying to see what to get the soon-to-be nineteen-year-old. They were enjoying each other's company and they didn't need to worry too much about Sanzo and the rest for a while. Hopefully, she could stash her gift in her bag before one of the others found them…

* * *

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED: 

None

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* * *


	14. XIII: Silver on the Tree

Disclaimer: Please do not remind me that I do not own these guys. I do own Ana, so don't steal her.

* * *

Reviews: You guys have forced me to up my requested reviews count. I hope you don't mind, but I can't keep up with this pace you're setting for me, especially when I'm not really writing right now. 

I had all these damn reviews written out and one goof, I'm back to nil again. I'll write out your names this time and give a general response to the reviews. I hope you don't mind... Thanks to all of you who reviewed: Ghost Girl Sora, Viscountess Kiera, Sarah, Cathy-the reader or Neko-chan,Sanzo4ever, Twilight-to-Nightfall, DaydreamerMagby, A Reviewer, Corrina, Silver-eyed, Starkitty, PhantomoftheBasket.

And the general review is: Please read the notes, hopefully your questions will be answered.

Note 1: Ana's ability to steal Sanzo's card lies in the fact that she was once a bit of a thief. She did admit to stealing from a store before, but what she will tell you in this chapter is that she's a mostly self-cured klepto. The other thing is, is that Sanzo isn't always self aware as presented in Saiyuki Reload Volume 3 where he loses his gold card and Kougaiji-tachi are contemplating on what to do with it. So, it isn't impossible for him to lose his card... And if Ana's sticky fingers come into play, then, well... you saw what happens.

Note 2: The reason that Hakkai hasn't had as much screen time is the fact that he isn't a screen hog. And the fact that I've been trying to develop closer bonds within the four Ikkou members that don't have their blonde heads shoved up their arses. Sanzo's a different story. He's a denile case. But for those fans that love Hakkai (like me) you will be seeing more of him this chapter and decidedly more next chapter.

Note 3: The guys ganging up on Ana is a form of their worry. She's the weakest member in terms of strength and the lightning only makes her able to defend herself more than attack. That lighting bolt was a one time deal for at least the time being. At most, it may never happen again. But the reason Sanzo is so mean to her is because she is walking around with a busted arm, could have died, and Sanzo was mad at himself more than her that she had been in danger and no one was there to defend her. And on top of that, he is angry that he had been closest and hadn't been there to help.

Note 4: Ana's screaming and yelling is her finally reaching her boiling over point. She's been under a lot of pressure, having to deal with a strange world with strange rules and strange people... Sanzo and friends are indeed strange. Don't deny. And she has been trying to be strong but everyone has a point where they can't handle any more, so she let out all her frustration and shocked everyone. When you put up a strong face, it is all too common for people to miss the obvious strain you are going through. And Ana has been doing that. In a way, I was screaming and yelling through Ana, only in her words instead of mine. She was yelling out, 'Can't you see me hurting?' I've said the same thing a number of times, totally shocking those who thought I was okay. So, I am reflecting some of me through her.

If you have more questions, ask them, please.

* * *

Chapter XIII: Silver on the Tree 

Ana and Gojyo found Hakkai not too long later and Sanzo almost miraculously materialized within seconds of Ana being 'found'. "Hand it over," he demanded, knowing exactly what she had done.

It wasn't her, thankfully, that had given over the card and prevented a metaphorical killing by violet eyes. It had been Gojyo… along with a peace offering. "Lighten up, man," he said with the additional peace offering in the form of a carton of Marlboro Red 100s. Sanzo looked at the carton in suspicion before grabbing them as well and stalking off to an obviously pre-determined inn.

"Thank you for finding her," Hakkai said with a nod to Gojyo. The kappa grunted, still hanging close to a very quiet Ana who had fixed her eyes on a particular spot on the ground. "Ana, what you did was wrong," chided Hakkai. Ana knew that. After all, she had admitted that she had shoplifted once. The second time she had shoplifted, she had gotten caught but got off clean as she admitted and put it back, watching her fingers close ever since. But that didn't deny the fact that she was still a pretty good pickpocket. All the times she had walked past someone and filched something out of their pocket… case in point, Sanzo. Her tendency to steal was a problem she mostly cured herself of, though she still had relapses.

"You found her!" Goku said from behind them, automatically scaring Ana and making her tense. She turned and next thing she knew was nothing but gold eyes staring into her coffee ones. "Are you okay? Did ya steal Sanzo's gold card?"

"Ah…" Ana said, feeling very small though Goku was slightly smaller than her. "I'm… fine…" she said. She didn't want to betray the fact she had bought him a present… on Sanzo's dime… yen… whatever… instead of stealing it.

"Good. Now don't run off again, 'kay?" Goku said. Then his eyes got curious. "What were you doing?"

"She was off sightseeing," Gojyo said, grabbing the teenage girl by the good arm and dragging her towards the inn with minimal protest from Ana. She'd rather be drug off by a red-haired friend than have her lectured by a green-eyed 'mother hen'.

The next thing that they became aware of was being shown to their rooms by a young, rather pretty woman that Gojyo took an instant liking to… Unfortunately, any and all of his flirts fell flat when he had come in with Ana in tow. They stopped completely when he discovered that she had a very jealous boyfriend who made it rather known that he wasn't going to have a sneaky red-haired kappa steal his girl… though he didn't say 'sneaky red-haired kappa'.

His exact words happened to be: "You keep your damn hands off Jasmine, you stupid red-haired bastard! She's _my_ girlfriend!" While Gojyo could have taken him on, his own morals dictated that he should leave her alone. If only for the peace and quiet. And yes, Gojyo does have morals.

…Which brings us up to date as of this moment.

"Why did you back off, Gojyo?" asked a very curious Ana. "I thought you were totally into that pervy 'I've-gotta-have-that-girl-there-'cuz-she'd-be-a-good-lay' thing."

"It's called being decent and having morals," said her roommate. Sanzo, Goku, and Hakkai were in the room across the hallway… or rather, Hakkai would have been in the room across the hallway had he not gone out for supplies. Goku would have been there as well save for the fact that he wanted to hang out with Ana more than Mr. Surly. "And leave that damn cast alone already," he ordered. Ana guiltily shifted her fingers away from itching skin and bone. The appendage was nearly healed but she hadn't been allowed to take it off just yet. Goku got the speed healing. Ana and Gojyo had to go about it the more mortal way. Damn Goku and his Superman-esque rip-off! "I'm not going to have Hakkai rip my head off for you fucking your arm up."

"Yeah, yeah. And since when do you have morals?" asked the youngest member of the Ikkou.

"Whaddaya mean, since when do I have morals?!" demanded Gojyo, sitting up slightly. "I've always _had_ morals."

"Yeah, put in a sack an' dumped in a river!" teased Goku, bouncing slightly on the foot of Ana's bed. Ana was sitting at the head of it, her legs crossed 'Indian style' with her shoes on the floor. Gojyo was laid back on the opposite bed, though facing the two.

At that point, Gojyo sat up completely and lunged at Goku. Goku, being rather smart, scrambled away and was laughing at Gojyo's seeming-fury. Ana, herself, was wracked with giggles as Gojyo chased the monkey about the room. The pair of them made loud thumps every now and again, which was probably okay as they were on the ground floor rather than one story up or so.

Unfortunately, things got a bit rowdy and somehow a sharp object came into play. Goku had found a pair of scissors and was threatening to cut Gojyo's hair for Ana and the kappa was very deft at dodging the snips at his locks of hair. But that didn't stop Gojyo from trying to still get at Goku even though the monkey was armed. Luckily, the scissors were of the similar-to-kindergarten variety as they had blunted tips and therefore were incapable of stabbing someone. But they were still sharp enough to cut if they got something between the two pieces of metal.

Goku made a final lunge at Gojyo. The word 'final' was used for Gojyo had dodged and Ana, who was still laughing her ass off, got a rather abrupt wake-up call. Goku froze, his hand still outstretched as they all looked in horror at the bed.

A thick chunk of dark brown hair streaked with blonde laid coiled on the bed and there was a similar sized chunk missing from Ana's head just below the nape of her neck.

Goku threw himself backwards and dropped the scissors at the same time, his face a picture of horror and shame. "I-I-I…" he managed to say, though there were no real words. His eyes were wide and his entire form trembled. He hadn't meant for Ana's hair to be cut… he didn't mean for anything to be cut, really.

Ana's hand reached down and picked up the hair with a shaking hand. Lifting it up, she saw that there was a portion of hair that was almost thick enough to constitute as one third of a braid if she did a basic one from her nape. And the length… The rest of her hair dangled to the small of her back. And this… for her… was about two feet… in metric, it measured over sixty centimeters. In shock, her eyes swept up to look at her male friends.

Goku, as previously mentioned, was struck dumb by the thing he did. And his eyes wouldn't shift from the chunk of hair in her hands even as he dropped the scissors with a clatter to the floor. "I… I'm…" he said. "I'm sorry… I didn't…. I didn't…"

Gojyo was wide-eyed as well, but his eyes shifted rapidly from the hair to Goku to Ana and back, like he couldn't make up his mind on who to pin his eyes on or any clue what to say.

Ana bit her lip, considering the options. Re-attatching it was not one, obviously. Her hair… She tried to make light of it. "I've been meaning to get a haircut," she laughed, but the tone was fake and it was very obvious even to her ears. Both she and Goku winced almost at the same time.

"I'm sorry! I'll do anything for you!" Goku said, trying to make sure she didn't hate him. "I'm really, really so—"

"Shut the hell up!" Sanzo said, barging in without warning. "You've been making so much damn…" He stopped when he saw the scene and everyone stared at him, still sitting and standing in the places they had been. Ana fisted her hand around the one end of her hair, the strands feeling somehow strange now that they were detached from her head… and somehow not as alive though the light curls in the strands clung to her hand like they were indeed still living. "What happened?" he demanded.

"It was an accident," Ana explained, even as Goku flinched away in guilt from the angry man and the stunned eighteen-year-old on the bed. "But…" She looked down. "I'll have to get my hair cut. I can't have it like this…"

Sanzo observed her posture and Goku's behavior. He looked at Gojyo. "What happened?" he 'asked' again.

"Like she said…" Gojyo shrugged. "We were messing around and next thing we know, her hair got cut."

"Hair does not magically get cut, Gojyo," grated out Sanzo. "Who cut it? Because I'm damn sure she _didn't_. And I want the truth. _Now_."

"I did…" Goku said quietly, cutting Gojyo off before the kappa could speak. His eyes were down-turned and his shoulders slumped. "I did… I'm sorry…"

Sanzo observed the chimp before stepping over to the bed where Ana still sat with the hand holding her hair now in her lap, her eyes focused on it. The chunk of hair, he noted, had come from his left side… her right. The suddenly shorter hair couldn't be kept back by her shoulder and it slid down to hang a bit in front of her face. Perhaps it was a good thing her hair hadn't been roped back into a ponytail or else it might have all gotten cut off in a very ragged trim. Or maybe it might have saved it, for it would have been harder to cut at that point.

The others watched the priest warily, wondering what he was up to. Sanzo himself wasn't that sure, but somehow he felt very angry at Goku for having damaged her fall of hair. And that was made even more noticeable with her down-turned face.

After a moment, he turned and walked out of the room, earning a sigh of relief from Goku and Gojyo, both afraid that Sanzo would have killed them or Ana for making all the noise. But Goku wasn't entirely relieved just yet. "Ana-chan?" he asked, once he felt it was safe.

"Yeah, Goku?" She looked up to see his shamed face and tarnished gold eyes as he kinda shuffled his feet a little way away.

"I'm sorry…"

She smiled. His innocence was something else. "It's okay. It can be fixed, believe it or not."

Gojyo decided to try and lighten up the situation. "Well, looks like I'm not the one getting the haircut!" he said with a smirk. Ana made an indignant sound and huffed soon after, wishing she was allowed to cross her arms to suit the sounds.

Goku looked at Gojyo, confused and slightly angry about it. "I cut her hair an' you're makin' jokes?!" he said.

"Easy!" Ana said to him. "We're just messing around…"

"But I messed up your hair!" protested Goku. His guilt was still totally plaguing him.

"It's not that big of a deal!" she assured him.

"Yeah it is!" His gaze turned pleading. "I'll do whatever you want! However long!"

"Why?" asked a startled Gojyo.

"Goku! No! It's not that big of a deal. It's just hair! If it was my ear, then yes! But, no!" protested Ana, standing.

Hakkai chose that moment to enter the room. "I just got back from shopping," the green-eyed demon said. "And I heard what happened from Sanzo." He looked at the shortened hair hanging down over her ear and sighed. "I can trim that up for you, Ana-dono," he offered.

She smiled and nodded to him, grateful. "Thanks, Hakkai. I'd appreciate that."

"What can I do?" persisted Goku, his hands half-raised like he wanted to do something but not too sure what he wanted to do.

Roxanna wanted to slap her forehead at Goku's persistence. "You don't have to do anything," she told him pointedly. "You're forgiven. It was an accident. Let. It. _Drop_."

"Come along, Ana-dono," Hakkai said, taking her by her shoulder. "It'd be easier to cut when wet, not to mention we can make sure it is more even."

"I'm a comin'," Ana said. "I'm a comin'."

When both Ana and Hakkai had left the room, Gojyo looked at the dejected monkey. "Why the heck do you want to be her slave?" asked the kappa.

Goku looked everywhere save at Gojyo. "I've gotta make it up to her somehow," Goku told him. "Her hair is so pretty an' long an' I went an' cut it off! She's gotta be mad!"

"She said she wasn't," Gojyo pointed out.

"But she's probably lying to make me feel better!"

"Or you _could_ be beating yourself up for no good reason," offered the kappa. Goku wouldn't hear of it. And Gojyo could see it. So, the red-haired man gave up. "Well, lighten up. It's your birthday tomorrow. At least try to have a little fun."

With that, Gojyo sat down on his bed before laying back, his legs still dangling off the end. Goku stared at him for a long while before turning and leaving the room. Gojyo watched him go. But Goku didn't just walk out of the room. He also walked out of the inn and onto the streets.

With Hakkai and Ana, they were busy working on Ana's hair. Hakkai at least knew basic trims. That much was fortunate. Ana's hair was washed and neatly combed out, a borrowed set of barber's shears nearby. A towel was around her neck to catch incidental hair falling down. "How do we want to do this?" asked Hakkai, looking her over while Ana looked at her wet hair parted down the center in a hand mirror.

"I really don't want it much shorter than this," Ana told him. "But I can see that we're going to have to even it up. Can we make the bangs a bit longer than the rest?"

"Sure. About how much?"

"This much…" The bangs had fortunately gone untouched in the accidental trim and she pinched off the hair with her fingers about two inches longer than the uneven edge. "About… what… five centimeters?"

"I can do that. But this is the first time I've cut a girl's hair. If I grow unconfident, we'll have to take you to a barber and get it done right."

"I'm not asking for lots of layers and my hair razored," Roxanna said dryly, glancing up at him. "I'd like some layers if you can manage it, but don't concern yourself overly much if you can't…"

"Right then… Let's get a preliminary cut." With that, Hakkai's hand encircled the hair he intended to cut and took the scissors to it. Being much sharper than the scissors that had cut off the chunk of hair to begin with, they cut it neatly and the majority of the length fell to the ground. "No going back now, hm?" he laughed, though he was upset to have to do this. The girl's hair was beautiful… It was a shame there had been that accident.

"There wasn't any going back when this stupid hair got cut," groused Ana. Hakkai's smile shrank but became more real. It shone of bemusement. Once he had combed it out again, he carefully pulled his fingers, styled into scissors to clamp the hair between them, over her hair and so began the first of many small clips towards Ana's new hair style.

Off with Sanzo, who as we know doesn't like the limelight and is usually forced to be anywhere near it… He was sitting at a small table and reading the new newspaper he had gotten from Hakkai. He as busy trying not to think about what was going on in the outside world. He knew that Hakkai had no doubt started trying to rectify the transgression Goku had committed on Ana's hair. If he did the trim or took Ana to a barber shop was all up to him. No doubt Ana would be second party in any decision except where her hair was concerned. Sanzo saw that she followed along behind all of them to the point that they eclipsed her in importance. Sanzo felt that that was a good thing for if they underestimated her, then there was a better chance that she could get out of a scrape… Case in point was the bit last week. They had assumed she was weak and one paid for it with his life. The Sanzo felt a certain vehement satisfaction at that. For some reason he was of the mind that _he_ was the only one that could potentially kill her. Not to mention he was furious with Goku for having cut her hair. He told himself that the feeling was from a sudden lack of peace and quiet rather than any real concern for Roxanna. In reality, the priest wasn't so sure. Rustling his paper as if to clear the disturbing train of thought from his mind, he turned back to the news and left off on the strange introspective turn his thoughts had taken.

Now that we have had a gaze into the mind of Sanzo, let's return to Ana's haircut. She looked her hair over in the mirror that Hakkai had given her. Turning her head somewhat to inspect the side, she decided…

"What do you think?" Hakkai said, hovering.

Her hair in the front, primarily the bangs, was four inches longer than her chin – a bit longer than they had intended originally – for it had curled under slightly once it had dried and there was just the slightest hint of wave. In the back it was a bit shorter cropped but not too short. It still looked like it had a bit of length as she had more of a bob with rather long bangs… Bangs, she felt, could be mostly clipped behind her head to be kept out of her face. She knew she would probably loosely clip them behind often. It seemed likely.

"I like it," Ana said. "You should get a beautician's license or something. This is actually pretty good." Hakkai had the modesty to blush.

"Do you really believe so?" he asked.

"Yeah…" She ran a hand through the freshly blow-dried hair somewhat self-consciously. "It's just going to take a bit to get used to."

"It is a large change," Hakkai agreed. He then shooed her out of the chair. "Off you go."

"What about cleanup?" asked Ana, confused, but she stood anyway.

"You can go on. Goku no doubt is worrying himself to pieces about how angry you supposedly are," Hakkai told her. "Besides, I don't want to accidentally have your arm harmed while you try to help.

Immediately, Ana bristled in her annoyance. "Are you treating me like an invalid again?!" she half-snarled.

Hakkai looked startled. "No!" protested Hakkai, holding his hands up in self defense. "I'd rather you go and do what you want rather than be stuck trying to hold a dust pan while I sweep. There are others that can do that." He paused and then made a shooing motion again with a very friendly if not a little strained smile. "Now go."

She gave him a very odd look before scooting along as he wished her to do. "I'm going," she muttered. Hakkai watched her leave with a bemused smile as her hand went right back into her hair, ruffling it and trying to get used to the feel of her long hair suddenly being gone. The youkai shook his head and turned to sweeping the leftover long strands of hair into a pile on the tile. She certainly was something else…

Gojyo was still laid back on the bed when Ana entered the room a full hour and a half after she had left it. His lips were pressed about the filter end of a cigarette and the smoke was wafting towards the ceiling in a rather lazy fashion. When the door creaked open, he rolled his eyes in the direction of said door and saw a hesitant Ana with short hair. "Yo," he said, the cigarette bobbing in his mouth but not falling loose from years of practice.

"Hey… any idea where Goku is?" she asked, glancing about the room and not seeing any evidence of the monkey.

"Nah… he left a while ago. Dunno where. Maybe with Sanzo?" offered Gojyo, setting up slightly on his elbows.

"Hum… Okay. I'll go see," said the Latina.

She turned and left the room to go across the hall. Opening the door with a soft knock, Ana poked her head around the doorframe, her coffee eyes connecting with Sanzo's violet, questioning ones.

Ana saw him observe her new haircut and allowed him to consider her for a moment before speaking. Stepping into the room more fully and approaching the priest, immediately noting that Goku was nowhere present, she stated her case.

"Um, do you know where Goku is?" she asked, mentally trying to still her heart from leaping out of her chest, not to mention quell the feeling of shame that she had been stealing again and from _him_.

He considered her a long moment. "No," he said perfunctorily before rustling his paper. But for some reason he didn't avert his eyes.

"Thanks…" she said, turning to leave as she didn't exactly know what to do with her hands… and she didn't like the way her body was trying to react to his mere presence.

Sanzo didn't let it show either, but the reason his eyes hadn't left her was because those annoying and rather persistent thoughts from earlier were intruding once again on his mind. And for some reason, they were stronger than before. He had to admit – solely to himself, of course – that the short hair wasn't that bad. His right hand twitched slightly, rustling the paper again with its want to release the flimsy stuff and run through her hair. He didn't know what to think of it, so he looked to the print. Besides, he was still mad at her for stealing his card.

Once his pinning eyes were off of her, she backed away slowly before turning and walking out of the room. "Oh, man…" she bemoaned. "For the love of…"

She sighed and walked away from the door, stepping quickly to try and figure out where Goku was. Hm… where, oh, where was Goku…?

Goku was actually walking around the town, musing. And trying to figure out exactly what he could do to fill his suddenly hungry stomach. He didn't have Sanzo's gold card. He didn't have the ability to puppy-dog eye people into giving him food. He really had no way of getting food period… save for going back to the inn and getting Hakkai to give him some food. But he didn't want to go back and see Ana all upset at him. He cared for her a lot. She was his best friend and was willing to play with him and tease Gojyo with him.

The monkey suddenly thought up of a brilliant plan. He'd help her out with whatever she wanted whenever she wanted! Not to mention, it would be as long as she wanted! That would be a good way to make it up to her!

With that in mind, the monkey turned on heel and rushed back towards the inn, hoping that Ana would forgive him for what he had done to her hair if he did this for her. Poor Goku didn't realize she had already given forgiveness even though she was still irked with him, especially for disappearing on her.

As soon as he got in the door, the others were seen talking about getting some food, save Sanzo. "Ah," Hakkai said, noticing Goku's presence. "We're just about to order some food. You're right on time."

Gojyo made a jeering remark. "Trust the monkey to show up right when we were getting a meal."

While the prospect of food was mouthwatering, Goku had to implement his plan first. He walked up to Ana, her confusion shining on her face rather brightly. Suddenly he clenched his fists by his side and bowed sharply to her. "I'm so sorry for what I did!" he blurted out as he bowed. "An' I'll do anything you want for as long as you want until you forgive me!"

The reaction to this news, and not just from the Ikkou but from everyone around them that was witnessing the scene, was deafening silence. Sanzo had just come down the stairs in time to hear his ward's words. And the monk was not happy. In fact, he was angry that Goku was doing this and he didn't like the chimp very much at the moment. Anger became evident on his face as Ana seemed very embarrassed, though he couldn't see her face. But Hakkai saw his and blinked in some small astonishment.

The green-eyed youkai saw Sanzo's face with clarity and was shocked and pleased at the same time. Sanzo's visage was of anger mixed with jealousy, though he managed to conceal a good bit of the jealousy behind his anger.

"G-Goku?" stammered Ana, backing up slightly, both arms raising up in a somewhat defensive gesture, making Hakkai believe that it was probably near time that he needed to remove the cast. "Look. I don't know what the hell you've been smoking but I suggest you stop. This is stupid. I'm not going to participate in this at all."

"But I have to!" protested Goku, his body shifting so it was upright once more. "After I cut your hair!"

She was just looking at him as though he had lost his mind. "Not 'no'… not 'hell no'… but 'fuck no'. Forget it. You aren't going to play slave to me, got it?"

But Goku had decided and she was out of an opinion to the matter. And he wouldn't hear her protests. But he did glare at Gojyo who looked like he wanted to add his own two yen in. It only made the kappa smirk wider but he did not speak.

"Now," Hakkai said, breaking up the tension easily with the single word, Hakuryuu positioning himself to look the cutest he could possibly be. "I believe we should get some food." Thankfully, onlookers were beginning to look away as the unusualness of the situation calmed back down to normal.

"Sounds good to me," admitted Gojyo as Sanzo approached them, his expression clouded with anger and annoyance at Goku, though he never directed the look at the teen. "What about you, Ana-kun?"

Her stomach answered for her, much to his amusement. "After everything… I kinda need something in my tummy."

They settled down at a table, Goku sitting to Ana's left and his eyes continuously flicking to her, trying to anticipate anything she might need beforehand. Sanzo sat on Ana's other side at the head of the table as Gojyo and Hakkai took up the other side, leaving the side on the far end of Sanzo unoccupied.

In short order, they had ordered their food and much to Ana's annoyance… Goku seemed on the verge of forgetting his food at times so he could get the item she needed the moment she asked for someone to pass something. It lead to a rather awkward meal as Sanzo ate quietly and tersely, Hakkai's smile was so obviously honeyed it seemed to attract flies, Gojyo couldn't get a rise out of Goku and was staring despondently around the room, trying to see if there were any beautiful girls, and Ana was starting to get annoyed with Goku's persistence.

But the girl held her tongue and allowed it to pass… for now at any rate.

And the day passed, supplies were bought and a persistent Goku was after an increasingly annoyed Ana to try and cater to her every need. At one point, Ana was called to one side by Hakkai and he carefully unwrapped her arm in order to test her bone. He deemed it strong enough to not need a cast anymore and by way of celebration, she hugged him with both arms about his neck, causing a very embarrassed blush from the youkai. By that night, Ana had to tell Goku that he had better back off because she was going to go take a very long bath and his presence wouldn't be appreciated. Goku apparently caught the hint for he blushed bright red and stuttered out some words as Gojyo laughed at them.

The next morning dawned bright and cool. The ikkou woke early and packed quickly, making sure to grab all their items before leaving the place. Ana was happily rubbing her arm every now and again as if to assure herself that her cast was really gone and it wasn't just a figment of her imagination. Some distance away she saw Gojyo give Goku a noogie and say "Happy birthday, runt!" which caused a small argument between the two about who was the 'runt' and what a 'cockroach' Gojyo was. Eventually, they were separated by Sanzo with a pair of well-aimed smacks of his fan on the back of their heads.

Goku then, nursing a sore head, had picked up her bag before she could get a chance and carried it out with his own bag slung over his slender but strong shoulder.

They were all soon in the car, not very happy with the prospect of having to be cooped up for an unknown length of time. It was a long drive, boring except for a small bout with some youkai that decided to make names for themselves and certainly did when their names were added to the God of Death's list. Roxanna was just glad that she was able to fight again with no upset looks from Hakkai. She tried to use the lightning bolt attack again, but she couldn't quite get it and only was able to zap those that were within a couple of feet. But she did get a disapproving look from the mother hen of the group for he wound up tutting over a scrape she received from a youkai's claws. "You need more instruction than I originally thought," he told her. "Flailing about isn't going to save your life."

Ana, needless to say, was cherry red from his chastisement.

They moved away from the carnage further west, diverting momentarily to the south to find a bridge over a just deep enough river that had been marked on Hakkai's map. The bridge was further than they had expected, so they had to stop for the night and make camp.

And, for that, they decided that now would be a good time to do Goku's birthday. Hakkai gave him a large meal using the extra groceries he had bought for the occasion. Gojyo just gave him another noogie and congratulated him once again for having turned eighteen.

Sanzo ignored them for the time being, his attention on the fresh news paper before him, but his attention was brought back to the scene when Ana made her move to give Goku a gift. It was a small box that rattled slightly and Goku protested for a long moment, trying to deny the gift. Sanzo felt a slight amount of irritation for he knew that Ana had used his gold card to get whatever was inside. He squashed it, though and was about to turn back to his paper when Ana shoved the box into Goku's hands.

"Take it or else, Goku," she said firmly, moving her hands away before he could try to give it back.

"But…!" protested the very upset Goku, trying to hold it out to her to take. "You shouldn't give this to me! Not after I messed up your hair!" he pressed.

"I'm telling you that it is for you and you alone," insisted Ana.

Goku stared at her for a long moment and heard Gojyo's inclusion to the scene. "Y'know," said the kappa. "She did go to all the trouble of getting it. Why don't you be nice and _take_ what she gave you? What about that stupid oath of yours?"

Gojyo was right and the hard look in Ana's dark eyes told him that she wouldn't accept 'no, thank you', for an answer. "Um…" He hung his head slightly and gazed at the box. It wasn't wrapped but it was taped shut. It was very ordinary and it wasn't big enough to hold anything really. But something rattled inside and after a quick glance at Ana, who was still standing firm with her hands now upon her hips… he decided it would probably be better if he just opened the box.

The tape came off and the box opened to reveal a piece of batting protecting something metallic. He lifted the cotton off and saw two silvery dog tags with five-pointed stars the width of his thumbnail cut out of the center of them. Engraved under the one that was facing up was the word 'forever' in caps and when he flipped over the other, he saw that that one read 'friends' in much the same way. Lying next to each other, they read 'friends forever'… however, he couldn't read English so…

He looked up. "What do they say?" he asked, lifting both out of the box to reveal them to everyone else. Gojyo wasn't that surprised as he had helped Ana pick them out. Hakkai was slightly confused and Hakuryuu seemed to reflect that emotion. Sanzo was just eyeing the two necklaces with a hint of distaste. Who knew how much she had spent on those damn things?

Ana smiled. "They're friendship necklaces," she told him. "One reads 'friends' and the other reads 'forever'. 'Friends forever'. I was surprised that I found them. There isn't anything really that is written in English and those… I'm pretty sure that the man didn't even know what they said as they weren't even in a set when he was selling them. And I got both pretty easy." She shrugged. "Give one to a friend and keep another for yourself, okay? I'll even be nice and let you decide who gets what."

He considered them both for a moment, the bits of metal winking in the firelight as they spun slowly. In the time he considered both the necklaces Ana had sat down once more and was now giving attention to Hakuryuu as the tiny dragon drank up the attention with quite a bit of relish.

Goku looked between the words, knowing what they said but not being able to read them, and selected one at random before he walked over to Roxanna and sat down next to her. Both the girl and the dragon looked at him in surprise as were the others watching the scene. "Here," he said, holding out a fist containing one of the necklaces. "You're my friend," he continued as Ana took the trinket and the silvery chain from him. Ana looked at the necklace he had given her and noted it was the one that read 'friends'.

At that moment, though… Gojyo decided it would be fun to tease the two of them. "If you guys like each other so much, get a room!" he catcalled, making the two blush in an instant.

Sanzo was pissed by the fact that Goku had given the necklace to Ana and at Gojyo for even saying that the two teens were an item. Unknowing of the cause, he immediately suppressed it. But he immediately felt another surge of irrational anger when Hakkai broke up everything and pulled Roxanna off to start training her on a few more basic techniques to fight with so she was a little safer. He squelched it once again, flicking the paper over his eyes. The movement made it impossible for him to see as Ana paused for a moment and latched on the necklace before putting it under her shirt, the barest glitter of chain vanishing underneath the collar as she started mimicking the movements Hakkai began to show her… of course, the paper before his eyes also prevented him from seeing Hakkai getting a bit 'friendlier' and positioning her body with his hands, the green-eyed demon blushing furiously even though he maintained a very professional string of commands.

He did drop the paper in irritation when Gojyo catcalled again, sending both teen and young man blushing furiously and Ana was glaring angrily over her shoulder at the widely grinning kappa… Hakkai's hands were on Ana's inner leg and at the back of her waist, which seemed a bit intimate save for the positioning of Hakkai's body, which was slightly crouched and far enough back away from her body. Sanzo gritted his teeth, angrily, snapping the paper up and concealing his face from the others as he began to desperately wish he could strangle Gojyo and Hakkai. These stupid feelings… Why was he feeling them?!

* * *

It was three weeks after the whole incident of Goku's birthday and a couple of weeks after Gojyo's ribs were deemed healed… The infamous Sanzo Ikkou was sitting in a restaurant busy eating, conversing, and otherwise…

"Oi! You jerk! Ya ate my flippin' gyouza!" hollered Goku.

"Did not," protested Gojyo mildly. "Did your eyes go stupid, too. Poor, brainless ape." The accused one turned away as if to dismiss the entire thing.

…Making fools of themselves as those about them stared at the scene that had just started.

"Wha? Kappa!" snarled Goku, not at all convinced by the innocent act as he half stood, slamming his hand on the table and making the contents jump slightly.

"And what do you mean 'yours'?!" Gojyo asked, not quite as mildly. "The stuff on the table's communal."

They were sitting in a restaurant eating up on good food. Hakkai sat to the left of Gojyo and in front of Goku, leaving Ana to fill the spot next to Goku and Sanzo to take one empty end of the table. Hakkai was eating as if no fight was going on as Hakuryuu slipped off bites of food himself to fill up. Ana was pointedly ignoring it but keeping a watchful eye out just in case the two of them got rowdy. Sanzo was slowly beginning to anger over his tea.

"That wasn't a regular gyouza—that was th' _last_ gyouza!" Goku said, his voice growing louder in his need for 'justice'. "An' I put it on my stupid plate!"

The people about them watched in awe as the brunette with green eyes and the young lady continued eating as though this was a regular occurrence… sadly enough, it was.

"Whoever gets it in their mouth first wins," Gojyo said, pulling the cigarette he had had in his mouth out from between his teeth. "Don't like the rule, start writin' your name on shit."

These words only spurred Goku on to new heights. He stood fully and brandished an accusing and angry finger at Gojyo. "So ya _did_ eat it! Yaargh! We're goin' outside!"

"You wanna piece of this?" shot back Gojyo, also having stood up to meet Goku's challenge. "Get ready to beg and cry!"

Sanzo was on the verge of exploding by now.

Away from the group, a group of three men were talking quietly amongst themselves and eyeing the soon-to-be fight with distaste. "Talk about hyperactive," said one. "Are they brothers or something?"

"Ugh…" said a second. "Somehow I doubt it. Maybe they're—"

He was cut off by two ringing gunshots and two bullets piercing the wall mere centimeters from his head.

"What part of 'execution for noise' don't you understand?" snarled a very pissed priest, cracking off two more shots as the tanned young woman and green eyed young man were both rising from their chairs to try and calm the situation down. Simultaneously, both the red headed man and the teen with the gold eyes were running for their lives even as Gojyo squeaked out "Mommy!"

"This has gotten out of hand," muttered Ana to herself.

"Stop playing around and eat!" snapped out Sanzo. "You're wasting time."

"I agree," mused Hakkai to the teenage woman. "Damage control?"

"But Gojyo—" started Goku even as Gojyo began, "But this monkey—"

"_Death_!" snarled out Sanzo, quelling the two into silence momentarily.

Ana blinked and then winced at the stares they were receiving. "Damage control."

The patrons of the bar began speaking lowly, scared of the group. "…Hey," muttered one. "Those are priest's clothes, aren't they?"

"I think so," said another, as both eyed the priest in question.

"Didn't he just fire a gun?" asked a waitress, her hand to her mouth to try and hide her words.

"Er…" No one could seem to answer that question.

"Excuse me," Hakkai said, popping up out of seeming nowhere, scaring the shit out of the man he had come up behind.

"Yeek!" squeaked the man, throwing himself away from the youkai. "Where'd you come from?!"

Ana startled him a second later for he had almost run into her, making him scramble again to get away from her as well. "The asshole over there," she said, jerking her thumb in Sanzo's general direction, "fired his gun a little bit ago. We saw him pointing it this way and came over to make sure you weren't hit by accident."

"What she said," chuckled Hakkai in a nervous manner, "only in nicer terms."

"Huh?" stuttered the confused man. "W-we're fine!"

"Thank goodness," sighed Hakkai in relief. He bowed to them. "I apologize for the fuss. Please pay us no heed."

In the background, Sanzo had just paid for the meal and was in the process of tucking the card back into his sleeve and beginning to herd the two delinquents out with the rather sharp words of: "We're leaving. Move it!"

"Now let's go diffuse the blonde bomb himself," muttered Ana even as Hakkai turned away from them.

The waitress came a tiny bit closer to Ana, sensing she was one of the sane ones. "Does this happen often?" she asked. Hakkai was also now maneuvering Gojyo and Goku towards the door despite their protests.

Ana gave her a bland look. "I've been traveling with them for just a little over three months and I've become mostly desensitized… what does that tell you?" she advised the girl while Goku bemoaned, "But there's spring rolls left—"

"And he'll slaughter you if you don't hurry," Hakkai told the teen.

"My beeeeer," Gojyo said, reaching towards the table with a forlorn expression.

"_Faster_!" snapped out Sanzo, who had already left the premises. Hakkai glanced over his shoulder as Ana grabbed a few things off the table, including Goku's spring rolls and Gojyo's partial bottle of beer.

"Ana-dono! Hurry up!" he called in a polite-but-growing-anxious tone.

"Comin'!" she said, having dumped the food into a layer of large paper napkins and bolted from the restaurant while people still stared. The doors closed after them, hiding them from sight, but the patrons still heard them.

"Do we need anything before leaving town, Sanzo?" asked Hakkai.

"Yeah," confirmed Sanzo, calming down slightly outside of the inn even as he glared in distaste as the youngest member of the ikkou gave her spoils to the second and third youngest ones in the group. "We're out of cigarettes."

Hakkai chuckled to himself as they started walking down the street. Gojyo had laid his arm upon Ana's shoulders and was drinking his beer, as if he was her boyfriend. Ana let him because she saw no harm in it as she wasn't claimed by anyone and luckily both missed the sour look on Sanzo's face.

Ana glanced over at Goku, who had readily wolfed down his spring rolls and the other bits of uneaten food that she had snagged, his dog tag gleaming in the sun. She was glad that she had… _persuaded_… him a couple weeks ago and in reality a day and a half before Gojyo's ribs had been unwrapped that she was sick and tired of him hovering over her all the time. And her persuasion was of the variety that she threatened bodily harm if he so much as _looked_ like he was going to play the 'good little browbeat puppy that would do whatever his master wanted' look again. She had tolerated five days worth. She thought it was sufficient enough. Plus, Sanzo had developed an increasingly constipated look during that time which made _Hakkai_ increasingly edgy. It certainly wasn't a good time had by all. Especially when Goku was almost holding her hand every time she needed to go to the bathroom, or tried to serve her food, or just waited on her hand and foot. Ana had never been a needy girl and it drove her stark raving mad that he had kept pushing at her…

She pulled her mind away from that and smiled at the scenery around her.

"What's got you so happy?" asked Gojyo, happening to glance down at her while she was smiling.

"Mmm… nothin'…" she said to him with a bright smile. Nothing was right… she was safe here, as safe as she could get at any rate. She was surrounded day in and day out by very attractive guys, got to have an adventure that she was adjusting to having, and she was feeling more and more like she was at home with these people.

Nothing major, indeed.

* * *

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 6: Chapter 35: Opposite (Partial)

((Authors Note: Well,_finally_ I complete at least _part_ of a chapter… XD And don't you think it is kinda surprising that Ana is thinking that she's at home with this rambunctious group?))

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_Leave a review._

_I request **ten** signed reviews._

_And **three** anonymous reviews._

_I love people who push that little purpley-blue button..._

_Not to mention, it makes me update faster._

_Review._


	15. XIV: Silent Night

Disclaimer: Again and again I say this, but legalities state I should say it once more with feeling... Like that will happen, right? I don't own Saiyuki, though if I did... well... I'd also own the patent for the machine to bring these hot guys to life. XD

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Reviews: Well, I got more than the required amount, though there is several mentions of 'I shouldn't ransom for reviews'. I'll address that note down at the bottom of my reviews section. 

DaydreamerMagby... It only gets a bit worse in this chapter. Problem is, he isn't realizing it!

ItakoFury, I have the time. And it isn't that original. I'm borrowing a lot from the manga. Probably why it is so easy to write at some points. I already have a guideline.

Kayla, seems like you like a jealous Sanzo, too.

Ghost Girl Sora, very popular subject, isn't it?

PhantomoftheBasket, read the note about the reviews thing. And I feel very special that you read my story first whenever you got off your grounding. And I'll happily take the candy as long as it isn't too sweet.

Corrina, they did, and read the note about my updating system, please. And I am continuing to make the monk jealous... but then there's this river called 'Denial' that he jumps into in this chapter.

A Reviewer, yes! I love you! LOL. I have been psychoanalyzing these guys for a long time now. I can probably write every one of them in half-decent character while mixing things up.

Estriel, I'm not a sir!!! o.O; Well, here's the update you so kindly requested Oliver Twist style. And Ana... well, she's one of the coolest characters I've invented.

Cathy-the reader or Neko-chan, and I love the fact you pushed the button!

Twilight-to-Nightfall, I had been planning to cut Ana's hair for some time and this horse-assing way of doing it was the best way to do it, I thought. Ana is the kind of person that doesn't willingly part with things that are precious to her and her hair was precious. Her saying that she was planning on getting it cut was actually her lying. She knew it was an extravagance and when it was cut, she knew she couldn't keep her hair, so off it went. And you're the first person to note the fact her hair is short now.

DarkSahara, it's been a long time! And yes, it is hard, but easy. Sanzo's a nice person though no one sees it right off the bat. You look at his actions and they're mostly engineered to make people safer though he puts up a cold face to keep people away. He will do what he must to make sure Ana survives and it isn't just because he likes her or Kannon ordered him to take her with them. He does it because it is the right thing to do. He may put up a cold exterior, but I think that just makes him sweeter once you get under his skin.

Bluestocking, interesting idea that you presented. Tim would die a happy boy if he met the ikkou. But I wouldn't dump them in Cali. I'd probably dump them somewhere I can relate to better, and that's in Texas. But that's another nice idea, the language barrier. I have ideas for sequels, but I'm just trying to churn this one out first. I don't want to abandon it and leave a ton of disappointed readers!

White Fire Alchemist, I saw that you reviewed my story... and me to your author's list! I am doubly honored! Oh, and thank you for reviewing 'Depravity'... I was seriously considering tearing it down because the story made me physically ill, but if you like it, I probably should leave it.

Silver-eyed... I've sent you into a giggling fit! Well done, me!

ViscountessKiera, Hakkai is a mother hen. Don't deny! And either one works, cents or yen. I don't care.

Kawari, Ana would infuriate her dear author if she didn't have what I call the 'human condition'. Every human has their strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, views, and opinions. If you take out the weaknesses and dislikes, your character loses its three-dimensionality. And please read the note below in regard to your feelings about my updating system.

Note 1: Reviews and Updates: I've gotten several people pointing out that it is a bit unfair of me to request reviews. However, the thing is is that it is a physical reminder to me that I can't update the moment I get a review as I am not God (in a literal sense and not a fan fiction sense) and I can not churn out story as fast as I'd like. And I am very excitable and would update very quickly if I didn't give myself a lower-end limit. The fact you review and how many reviews you give has nothing really to do with it. Many times the reviews have been lower than the number of reviews requested and yet I update because I believe I've waited long enough. I hope you all understand. It isn't truly blackmail. It's me slapping myself on my hand and saying 'Bad Nikki! Don't you update yet! You aren't that fast at writing!' Sorry...

Note 2: There's a bit of an unexpected scene where Sanzo and Ana are centered. I've got a deadline to meet for them to get together and therefore I'm trying to push them a little faster story-wise. Time line wise, it is a few weeks longer or so. But don't think that this is the end to their 'dance'!

Note 3: I had written up to another part after I had written this part and realized that it didn't quite fit together perfectly until I added some lines to make it fit later on. The group is going to get into a major mess and Ana's going to get into trouble... again. I can't seem to resist putting her right in the thick of things, can I? I'm so mean. .; But she is so much fun to mess with! And getting the guys worried about her is darling!

Note 4: I realized that there are people that do not review the last chapter and therefore get missed out on the review-time section. If you wish for me to respond (as I weed out all other chapters and go straight for the latest), then please review the final chapter. I'm not intentionally forgetting you.

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Chapter XIV: Silent Night 

Roxanna was focusing her electricity between her two index fingers, making it snap as she broke the chain by jerking her fingers a bit further apart and cutting off the flow. It had been her amusement for the past fifteen minutes and she was considering making things more difficult by trying to force her lightning into shapes.

Goku had lost interest about ten minutes ago and had slumped over backwards to half rest his back on the tire behind him and drape his head down in a most uncomfortable position to stare out at the retreating road behind them. To put it bluntly, he was bored.

Gojyo was studiously staring at a porn magazine, which Ana was studiously ignoring to make sure she didn't try and kick him in the balls later for having even looked at the thing. She kinda liked his voice at the timbre it was in at the moment. A few octaves higher wouldn't sound as good. He didn't know this at all, so he was looking at a blonde whose carpet matched the drapes and had one of the most alluring expressions covering her face and her body positioned in a provocative pose. By the way, as Gojyo would very much appreciate you to know… she was the centerfold.

Hakkai was trying to listen to the radio as he drove along, smiling all the while. He was listening to the news to see if they'd get soaked tonight. So far it looked promising, but he wouldn't count his chickens unless they hatched first.

Sanzo was listening to the news as well, idly smoking a cigarette. He was more interested to see if there were reports of massive youkai attacks. There always was one or two that was important enough to list out on the radio or in a newspaper.

"Aw, man…" busted out Goku suddenly from his somewhere-between-right-side-up-and-upside-down position. "I'm bored out of my brain."

Gojyo glanced over before closing his magazine. "You'll fall, monkey," he said even as he put it away, sensing the beginnings of a possibly interesting conversation or maybe a good time to make a bad joke.

"But sittin' up hurts my back," Goku protested, still laying back.

Ana looked over at him after she let her lightning pop again. "The way you're sitting_now_ looks painful. Could you sit up for my sake?"

"Not interested…"

"Well, we haven't been attacked by assassins in days," mused Hakkai. "At least it's rather peaceful."

Ana turned back to her fingers to continue playing with her lightning when Gojyo found his opportunity to make a joke. "And just when I was getting used to the company. I think I'm gonna miss those guys," he said in a sighing manner as he put his hands to the sides of his face like he was sad about it. "A maiden's heart is so complex," he sighed. Ana didn't even bother to look at him when she raised her eyebrow as her focus was completely on the lightning dancing between her fingers.

"Don't," warned Sanzo, irked by Gojyo's statements.

Goku sat up and crossed his arms over his upraised left knee before he placed his head down on them to look somewhat forlornly at Ana's sparking hands. "Um, hey," he said in general to the car as his mind wandered back to a few weeks ago. "Whaddaya think happened to Kougaiji? Ya think he's still alive?"

"Worrying about your enemies is a waste of time," Sanzo said blandly, not even bothering to look back over his shoulder. Goku sat forward in his surprise.

"Wha? But I—"

"Goku," Hakkai interrupted, gaining Goku's complete attention. "Kougaiji made the conscious choice to fight you. There's no need to worry." His assurance began to calm the teen down.

"Yeah," affirmed Gojyo. "He's not that easy to kill, either. The guy's got the persistence of a cockroach."

Game, set, and match goes to…

"And if a member of the same species says so, it _must_ be true," Sanzo said dryly as Ana said sweetly at the same time, "Did your relatives tell you that, Gojyo?"

Genjyo Sanzo and Sanchez Ana both win that round.

"…Oi…" Gojyo said, not entirely sure whether or not to get angry as he _had_ set himself up for that one.

"Hee…" grinned Goku, feeling enormously better. "I think so, too."

None of them knew the peril that Kougaiji's mind was in… that Ni Jienyi had at Gyoukumen Koshu's orders had done something terrible to the prince… And the prince was losing who he was.

Day passed into night and they had stopped in a clearing to sleep after a somewhat minimal meal to make sure their supplies lasted until the next town.

The crickets were chirping as it would be May in a couple of days and spring was upon them. Gojyo was staring at the sky, trying to get some shut eye even though the stars were too bright and close. Across his lap was Ana's head, her face to the sky, as she had fallen over in her sleep and he didn't want to bother her and wake her up. Her legs were half-on Goku's lap, the chimp having slid down some in his seat and was snoring lightly, totally out of it as was the girl.

Gojyo put a cigarette to his lips. He flicked the cigarette lighter open with a metallic 'click' to strike flint on metal.

"Can't sleep?" came from the front seat. Hakkai was awake.

"Nope," Gojyo said honestly, pushing the hair out of his eyes. "The stars're too bright," he told his best friend.

"I agree with you there," Hakkai said as he leaned his head back against the headrest to gaze at the distant globes of burning gasses, his smile soft and real though the red-head couldn't see it. Above them, a shimmering streak of light shot through the darkness studded with glittering stars. "I just saw a shooting star for the first time in my life," Hakkai said in a slight amount of awe.

"Don't make a wish," cautioned Gojyo in a teasing tone. "That's too cliché."

Hakkai immediately put his hands together in a prayer-like move and said with a very cheeky smile, "I guess I could wish for 'my family's health and safety'. Yes?"

Gojyo would have leaned forward as he was very tempted to knuckle Hakkai in the head or something but couldn't as Ana was still laying on his lap, so he instead lit his cigarette. "You an old man or somethin'?" he muttered darkly, his voice carrying despite his low tone. Sanzo swam up out of sleep but didn't speak or open his eyes, listening to the conversation as it continued. "The monkey'd ask for something ridiculous list of foods," the kappa said. He reached over and pinched Goku's nose shut. "Lookit him… out like a light. Ana-kun, too. Lucky punks." Goku murmured and shifted position slightly. Ana's leg twitched and slid down slightly in response to the movement.

"Don't wake them up," cautioned Hakkai.

"I wasn't gonna."

There was a long pause before Hakkai spoke up again. "I suppose Ana-dono would wish to go home, yes?" he said, his tone saddened by the thought. Gojyo's hand released Goku's nose and his other hand lightly ran over the girl's hair. She, too, mumbled in her sleep but this time there were real words.

"Nnn… Can… Tim…"

"Yeah, she would," observed Gojyo, growing cold at the mere thought of losing his suddenly favorite girl. "Probably'd be out of her mouth before the star could even finish fallin'. Good thing she isn't awake… hunh?"

Hakkai gave a sad smile as he shifted his position, leaning forward. "To tell you the truth… I envy the fact that they could both think of something to wish for so easily," admitted the youkai. "I couldn't think of a thing."

"Well, yeah," Gojyo said to him. "That's because you don't have anything you _need_ to wish for."

The insight made Hakkai's eyes widen slightly. He straightened and leaned back in his seat to gaze at the sky, his false smiles gone for a while at any rate. Sanzo's eyes slid open, but he didn't move otherwise. His own eyes were gazing somewhat upwards and off to one side where there was a break in the trees to allow the starlight to come through. Gojyo puffed at his cigarette, contemplating something that perhaps had to do with the conversation. Goku and Ana both continued to sleep, Gojyo's hand still on Ana's head.

Finally, Hakkai broke the silence. "…I think I see," he quietly said, blinking slowly.

And Nox walked on, making light note of the four men and one woman camping out in the wonders of her sister's forest beneath her own starry sky.

((Author's Note: Forgive me as that was virtually verbatim from the manga. I thought it was a neat scene.))

* * *

"Gah!" Ana exclaimed as she stretched so hard she actually shivered. "Finally! Out of the car and on our feet!" The teenage girl dropped her arms to her side with a clapping sound on her thighs as her palms struck them. Hakkai shot her an amused grin even as Hakuryuu gave her a reproving look for having insulted him. 

The girl didn't notice for Goku had grabbed her hands and spun her around, excited as she was for they were in a town rather than in the boondocks somewhere.

"Hah!" exclaimed the chimp as she squealed in surprise.

"Settle down!" Sanzo said as his fan appeared out of nowhere and smacked both upside the head at the exact same time.

"Ouch!" "Erk!"

"Now move!"

Gojyo was smirking at the two who had gotten punished instead of him. Both immediately scooted after Sanzo as he walked down the cobblestoned town road with Hakkai near him as the green-eyed man began to look over a shopping list he had built while out in the woods. Ana slipped up next to him and grabbed his sleeve to pull his ear down near her mouth.

"I need the girly supplies," she whispered in his ear, making him go beet red at the thought of having to purchase them. She jumped away from Hakkai at Sanzo's dark look and moved around to the other side of her current savior from Sanzo to make sure she was protected.

"I'll do what I can, Ana-dono," he said with a strained smile to her, his face still red.

Ana managed to flash him an appreciative grin right before Gojyo yanked her backwards to question her on what exactly she had said to embarrass Hakkai so bad.

"Nonya," she said in English, one of her favorite slurred phrases.

"What the hell does_that_ mean?" asked Gojyo, confused.

"None of your business," she explained in Chinese before pulling away from him with a very cheeky grin and bounced over to where it was perhaps safer from being hounded to death by one Sha Gojyo for answers to his questions.

It wouldn't necessarily make her safer from Genjyo Sanzo's Paper Fan of Doom. In fact, it would make it a lot harder to avoid his fan. And she found that out an instant later.

"Gah!" cried out the teen, nursing her sore head with her fingers. "What's the deal with that pole up your ass?!"

"Quit making so much noise," he told her with an irritated look on his face as his fan vanished again. The truth of the matter was that he was irritated with the fact that Ana seemed so very close to the others of their group. He told himself that it was because he didn't want them to be so enamored with her that when she _did_ leave them, via death or her own choice or some other unknown force, they'd be all depressed and impossible to deal with. That's what he told himself at any rate.

They soon found an inn and had dumped off all their stuff. Hakkai went out to start filling out their, Ana trailing behind as she was hyper from having been pretty much motionless for many hours. They had the gold card, Sanzo not interested in playing minder to the one person in the group that was halfway trustable with his card. And he wasn't referencing Ana either, the little thief.

Hakkai was browsing the stores, picking up shampoo here, Marlboros and Hi-Lites there, and was also selecting cans of vegetables, meats (completely forgoing the cans of Spam when he heard Ana's none-too-subtle gags when he picked one up), and other non-refrigerated items that could be easily stored and kept for periods of time in the back of a car. He also picked up another bottle of cooking oil as he was running low, and a small can of lighter fluid. When they passed the pharmacy area, Ana immediately went to the pads and tampons section, grabbed her share, and came back… grinning evilly at Hakkai's reddening cheeks. The youkai picked up a few more things from the area, such as ibuprofen and other small medicinal type things that he was sure they'd need.

"Do you know if we got everything?" asked Ana, poking her head over to see if Hakkai's list had been filled.

"Yes, I believe so," her companion mused, looking it over and deciding that everything he had managed to think of had indeed been gotten.

"Register?"

"Yes." Their load was moved up to the front of the store where the registers were. There were four in this small store, enough to deal with the traffic it probably received. Two were open and luckily there was one person in each line. The elderly lady they got behind had less than the mother with her squalling child that was reaching for candy in the impulse buy rack. Ana ignored the 'discussion' that the mother was trying to have with her son to keep him from either dragging himself out of the cart he was in or dragging the rack down on top of them. Hakkai didn't get involved himself, but he did glance occasionally at the child and mother with worried eyes though his façade mostly hid it.

Finally, the little lady had been checked out and they put their stuff on to the counter.

"All of this, please," Hakkai said to the slightly plump young woman at the checkout.

"Haven't seen you two around before. Just come here?" she asked in a friendly manner as she began to ring up their items.

"Yes, we're passing through," Hakkai said conversationally.

Ana looked over to the side and saw a newspaper. She picked it up and placed it with the other things. Hakkai gave her a marginally surprised look. "For You-Know-Who," she said with a grin. "He'll like it."

"Yes," smiled Hakkai to her with an agreeing nod of his head.

"You two a couple?" asked the woman, with a kind smile. She was a bit surprised when both of them kind of choked and their eyes widened as they stared at each other like… what the hell? "Um… I should take that as a no, right?"

"Yes, you would be correct. We aren't a couple," Hakkai said nervously with a visibly strained smile.

"Yeah… more like good friends," Ana waved off, her cheeks pink with her embarrassment.

"Oh, that's how it starts out and then…" The woman shook her head dreamily. "That's how I met my husband. We were both in diapers and next thing we knew, we wanted to get married."

Ana gave her a somewhat bland look. "Well, I haven't known Hakkai since I was a baby."

"Indeed," agreed Hakkai, trying to shut down even the merest thought of them two becoming married. "We've only known each other for a little over three months. Quite by happenstance, actually."

Ana gave him a funny look. "If you put that in English and speak with a British accent, then I'd think _you_ were the one with the pole up your ass," she told him and nearly laughed out loud when she saw the look of outright shock on his face. As it was, she was giggling. The woman behind the counter was staring at her, too. Suddenly she blinked, shook her head and began to quickly ring up the items that were still before her.

Soon, all the items were paid for and Hakkai was eagerly moving from the grocery store with his face tinted pink and Ana actually laughing just a few steps behind him, carrying her portion of the load.

They managed to get back to the inn and drop off their supplies, Hakkai really trying to ignore Ana as she continued giggling like an idiot. Gojyo and Goku couldn't get a straight answer out of either of them when they saw her still giggling her head off.

However, the mood shifted and became somber when a distinct energy came upon the wind. Sanzo clasped a hand over Ana's shoulder, halting her cheerful mood and when she looked up at him, his eyes weren't trained on her but towards the northern horizon hidden by a wall.

"Let's get out of doors," Hakkai said somberly. "And get the people outside somewhere safe. We've got a fight on our hands."

"Fuck," swore Gojyo, snapping his cigarette in two from the irritation of having youkai attack them. While he _had_ joked several days earlier about missing the attacks, he wasn't at all thrilled with the idea of innocents getting involved.

There were no other comments as they pushed outside, surprising the people in the common room. "All of you get inside and bar your doors," Hakkai commanded them with the air of a Field Marshal commanding troops. "Youkai are coming and you don't need to be in the line of fire."

There were horrified looks on many people's faces and more than a few bolted from the inn, trying to get home to loved ones that needed to be protected from the monsters that these five people were saying to be coming.

…And now that they thought about it, one of was dressed like a Sanzo. Wasn't there a Sanzo going about exterminating the youkai?

Outside, Ana was fidgeting as she had her lightning close to her skin. The others knew her primary defense had enough voltage running through her that could drop any bear and turn it into fritters so they didn't touch her but instead readied their selves for a fight. Gojyo and Goku both had their weapons to the fore and Sanzo's gun was in his hand. Hakkai did go closer to Ana and pointedly told her to remember the lessons that she had been given. He also gave her a hunting knife that had a blade as long as her hand from the tip of his middle finger to the heel of his palm and a handle that was maybe a centimeter or two shorter, inlayed with wood and showing steel down the center so it was solid and steel pins holding the wood to the forged blade. It was sheathed in leather. Ana looked at it for a long moment and felt a cold chill run through her.

"You expect me to use this?" she asked, wary.

"Every little bit of length to your attack range can be useful," Hakkai said honestly. "You can't expect everyone to come at you without a weapon or be smaller than you. Honestly, they all seem bigger when your life is threatened. At least a knife will give you a little extra reach."

She took the blade and stared at it even as he shifted away. She was still very uneasy about the thought of taking a life. Every female, no matter the age, felt that way regardless of what they do in life. It was a mother's prerogative to protect and nurture. Ana's hand tightened about the grip of the blade, drawing it from the sheath. Even if she knew her enemies were going to slaughter people mercilessly, it didn't make it easier.

A suddenly ominous presence touched against her senses in an unidentifiable way and her head snapped up to locate it. And that's when she started hearing the beginning of the screams of the townspeople. "Oh, god!" "It's the youkai!" "Save us!" "Gaaaah!" "Mommiiiieeee!"

The shouts of the youkai soon joined them, incoherent and indistinct at first, but when the youkai came down from over the rooftops rather than by more conventional means, the shouts were all too clear. "There they are!" "Die, Sanzo!" "Gah-hahahaha! We've got you now!" "Kill them!"

A portion of youkai came at her, seeing her as the weakest one there and therefore easier to kill. Ana was forced to rectify their oversight and swallowed down her fear and squeamishness as she brought forth her lightning and blade. She had to kill them and do it quickly as she knew that if she didn't, she would die or be grievously hurt. And she _really_ didn't want Sanzo mad at her. Or Hakkai. A mad Hakkai was a very scary Hakkai.

Ana fought harshly, using all the skills Hakkai had given her in their training sessions as she lashed out with her foot, kicking back an opponent as her energy traveled down her leg to give him a 'jump start'. Her skin was charged up to as high a voltage as she could maintain on a semi-subconscious level and even a nick with her knife clutched firmly in her hand could produce fatal results.

As she proved a mere moment later when she swiped out with it and only scratched the youkai but she stiffened up and fell back as voltage raced through her body. The fallen she-youkai was soon replaced by another pair. Ana got them as well, but she noticed something about her opponents. They were still twitching, alive…

A dry, clinical part of her mind decided that since she was fighting more people, she was using less of her energy on each to preserve for the next one she encountered. But she soon realized that wasn't quite accurate. While she hadn't fried them… they were dying. She had put enough voltage into them that their hearts' natural rhythm was upset and were faltering.

Somehow, that idea sickened her more as she saw the she-youkai from earlier still, her eyes blankly staring at the sky. Dwelling on it was quickly pushed to one side when she heard the high-pitched scream of a child accompanied by the throatier yell of a woman.

She whipped around, turning to run in that direction. There were youkai suddenly before her, some leering in a manner that made her feel more than a little undressed. One had a sword, which made her wary, but she decided that she might need the sword. "Get her!" roared the youkai with the sword, the leader of this particular group apparently.

"You guys are so dead," she drawled, her fists curled, one of which holding her knife. A sudden memory from many different detective television shows made her adjust her grip so that if she stabbed at someone, it would be flat rather than vertical. That way, less chance of getting caught on bone.

As the youkai threw themselves at her, she ducked down under their blows to get at their less-than-protected midsections and legs. Pain lanced over her back and arms as they got hold of her. Ana let loose her energy all at once, having reigned it in for a moment, and knocked them back. There were three left, but one was inadvertently taken out by a chi blast from Hakkai's direction and the other two were killed by her own hands.

The katana clattered to the ground and she picked it up with a shaky hand, the tang of blood in the air putting her off a little. She swallowed and had her nerves reaffirmed when she heard the child scream yet again.

Getting to her feet, she happened to glimpse a youkai's head spinning away from its body courtesy of Shakujyo. The image filled her with disgust as it bounced once before hitting the ground and rolling slightly. The headless corpse it had once belonged to, along with a small handful of other youkai, fell to the ground. The suddenly lax muscles provided by death couldn't keep them up and Ana saw Gojyo smirk as he turned to his next opponents, witty repartee on his lips along with the cigarette butt trapped between his teeth.

The youkai about her were going into… what was that phrase? Cardiac Arrest? Respiratory Failure? Both would do for the situation, she supposed. Ana had to force a detached manner because she didn't want to die while she was spazzing.

A minute later, she came upon the scene where the mother and her son were and they were surrounded by a large group of youkai interested in rending her and him of their lives. "Oi!" she exclaimed, drawing attention to her and away from the brave, skillet-wielding woman. "Guess who I am?"

"You're the bitch from Sanzo's group!" snarled the youkai with the katana. Wait… this was a new youkai. Damn. Apparently Hakkai was right and she needed to up her arsenal some. He seemed to like snarling for he snapped out commands in the same manner and tone to his companions. "Get her! Kill her! I don't give a damn how! Just do it! And make sure to kill off this bitch and her squalling brat, too!"

Okay, trying to kill her was one thing. Offing the woman and her kid was a completely different story. They came at her and she used the acquired sword to conduct lightning through. After about four kills, she managed to get between the woman and child… and the rest of them. Up until that point, they had been fended away from the pair by the mother's deft skills with the very dented frying pan.

She managed to take down the rest, but her strength had waned down considerably and her arm ached from the effort of keeping the sword up and in a defensive position. Unfortunately, as she had become weaker and was very much unskilled with a sword, the leader took his shot and scored a moderately deep cut on her side, instantly making the wound bleed profusely. Of her two burdens, the sword was the first dropped and her hand was pressed against her side to at least stem the flow of blood. Her fingers were immediately stained crimson from the fluid and she hit her knees on the ground, incapable of orienting herself through the pain.

'_Fuck,'_ she thought as the youkai lifted his sword once more to slice her through her collar bone and down into her torso. _'I'm dead. Hakkai's gonna be pissed… And Sanzo… he'll probably find some way to resurrect me and then kill me again for dying.'_

The sound of a gunshot told her otherwise for her opponent's sword hit the ground with a clatter and he soon joined it, having fallen backwards. His head was bleeding from a small, round hole in the side and a larger fist-sized hole on the other. He'd been shot.

"Nnnh… lucky me," she mumbled. Turning at the waist, despite the pain in her side, she looked at the pair behind her. "You guys okay?"

The woman gave a very nervous nod as she hugged her boy close, not daring to get any closer to the woman that had just defeated a group of youkai single handedly.

"Ana-dono!"

"Fuck. 'M in trouble…" she mumbled, hearing Hakkai's voice. She looked up to see him crouch down in front of her. "Hey, Hakkai. I'm a little hurt…"

"I see that," he said disapprovingly as he pushed her hand aside and covered it with his own. His hand turned red from the flowing blood. "At least it isn't too deep."

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Sanzo told me of your predicament… He saved you from being killed, you know."

"Yes. I know," she told him as tingling warmth spread through her side. "He's so confusing."

"Yes, I know," he mimicked in a gentle manner. He pulled his hand away and noted the amount of blood on his hands. "Are you okay?"

"I fee like I've donated a pint or two and the pain is kinda still there… Otherwise, give me some juice and animal crackers and I'll be a super happy girl." Hakkai stood and offered his clean hand to her to help her up. "But I ruined the shirt you gave me. And I got hurt. Maybe I need to get sword lessons, too." She took his hand and he helped lift her up to her feet.

"Perhaps. But let's get you more hand-to-hand lessons before we arm you with a sword," Hakkai advised dryly.

"Sounds good to me." However, Ana swayed slightly at a sudden bout of light-headedness and leaned against Hakkai. "Sounds even better if I eat something with iron in it."

Hakkai looked at the two Ana had nearly sacrificed her life to protect. "Come along," he told them. "We'll have your wounds seen to. Do you know if this town has a doctor?"

The woman nodded, gathering her son up into her arms and began to walk down the road. "This way, sir…" she said, her eyes focused in a determined manner upon the road before her, trying to ignore the bodies and blood about her. Her child, however, stared in wide-eyed shock at the sight of a youkai that had been separated neatly in two and the remains of his intestines laid spilled out onto the ground. Not to mention the occasional townsperson.

Hakkai lead Ana through the streets and Ana realized in growing horror… she had killed… a lot of youkai. "How many were there?" she asked.

"About a hundred," he informed her. "I have no idea how many exactly. It looked like they were massing for a while to get us unawares." He glanced down at her sadly. "I'd say we each had approximately fifteen to seventeen youkai to deal with apiece. I'd say you got a few more as did Goku and Sanzo."

"I killed… over…" Hakkai knew where she was coming from. How hard was it to swallow the fact that she had killed more within the past few months than she had ever done in her life? He didn't have such squeamishness anymore. All of that had been lost to the time he was Gonou and trying to save his sister.

More people were moving towards the direction the woman was headed. Some had injuries and others were whole but wanting to help those that needed it. There weren't any clean up crews yet, as most were still in shock from the whole experience.

"This way!" someone said and Hakkai saw that it was a man in a doctor's jacket and a stethoscope around his neck. "Into the inn, sir. We'll check your friend out and get her patched up. You too, Karen. Take Kai inside. We'll get him cleaned up."

"Thank you, Doctor," the woman said relieved.

"Gimmie some juice and crackers and I can get to helping you out, okay?" Ana told him. The doctor gave her a startled look before smiling gratefully. "All the help we can get would be greatly appreciated, Miss." He nodded to Hakkai before moving off to check on a man that had been hurt badly and needed medical attention. Hakkai ushered Ana inside and noted Gojyo and Sanzo within the common room, dealing with the people and looking like they wanted to bolt.

The youkai left Ana to Gojyo's care as he was closest and rushed outside to see what could be done. Ana barely noted the changeover, her mind numb from shock.

"You okay?" he asked. She looked up at him, her eyes lost.

"I killed so many…" she whispered. Gojyo's eyes softened and he hugged her close to him, dropping a kiss upon her forehead. Sanzo, who had been heading over to them to see if she was okay, froze stiff with anger for a long moment, turned, and marched out of the inn. Neither noted his departure.

"It'll be okay," Gojyo said gently, loosening his grip on her. "Now, other than the visible scratches… what else hurts?"

"Other than my heart… I need some food. I lost a good bit of blood," she explained when his face shone with confusion.

"All right. What kind of food?"

"Iron or sugar. Your pick. But sugar is easier to find and eat on short notice. And juice. I need juice."

"Sounds good to me. Sit down and I'll get some."

"You're being nice," she noted as she settled on the bench next to a few others that were hurt minorly. But he moved off to grab the stuffs.

Not too long later, she was back on her feet, binding wounds, smearing triple antibiotic, and helping the people out one by one as fast as she could. It was hot work, especially with the amount of people in the common room and those upstairs. By the time thirty minutes were up, she had bound her hair back out of her face with a kerchief and continued helping.

* * *

Roxanna had finally helped the village's doctor with the last of the injured when she ran into Sanzo in the room she was to sleep in, seeming like he had nothing better to do. Her eyes were weary when they fell upon him and she spoke in a tired voice, "Could you please leave? I don't have the energy to deal with you right now…" 

"How many times have I told you to not to take unnecessary risks?" he demanded, his anger stemming from his fear. A fear that he didn't quite understand. But he did know that he didn't want her hurt or even killed.

She snorted as she untied the cloth that had kept her hair out of her eyes, allowing sweaty strands into her face. "I was helping. That requires for me to 'take unnecessary risks'." She raked her fingers through her hair, too tired to even care if he was boring holes into her with those intense violet eyes she loved so much. She didn't even care enough that her heart didn't pound quickly.

"And yet Hakkai had to heal you," spat out Sanzo.

"If I hadn't fought, that child and his mother would be _dead_."

"Did you ever think that you could possibly die as well?" asked Sanzo in a deadly quiet voice, a sure sign he was getting angry. "And all that happened was those people kept their lives for a little longer because you could have potentially been killed."

"I wasn't going to die!" protested Ana.

"You should have let them die! You are more important as we've been saddled with you and have to protect you! All you managed to do was keep them alive until the next youkai attack!"

"How could you just not care?" demanded Roxanna, her eyes shining bright in anger as she rounded on him.

"Those people just got even more hurt when they ran into the line of fire!" He wasn't referencing just the child and mother any more. He was referencing something separate but Ana knew the answer to give though she hadn't been present.

"'Those people' were scared, Sanzo! They were trying to save themselves because of all the youkai and they didn't know what to do!"

"All those damn idiots out there would be safer if they were out of our way!"

"Yes, they would be, but I've yet to see you give a _damn_ about others for the sake of being something other than being in the _way_!" shrieked Ana, her heart hurting greatly.

"I do care about people!" snarled out Sanzo in protest to her words, his eyes flashing angrily as he balled his fists at his sides.

"Oh, yeah?" snapped out Roxanna… "What about caring about _me_ as a _person_? You've _never_ seemed to!"

Sanzo's mouth nearly snapped shut in shock when the pieces of the puzzle to this overwhelming confusion of emotion in him suddenly slid into place. Some of the shock must have been apparent on his face, because Ana's anger wasn't near as sharp as it had been and was now sporting an interesting mingle of anger and confusion and worry… like she was fighting the confusion and worry to remain angry. But Sanzo wasn't concerned with that. Sanzo just had had a bitch slap of the utmost caliber right to his face. The reason he got so angry when Goku gave her one of his friendship necklaces… when Gojyo slung his arm around her shoulders and had placed that kiss upon her forehead… when Hakkai was teaching her how to fight… Fuck.

He had somehow fallen for a girl that was five years younger than him. This wasn't good.

"Sanzo?" asked Ana. Her body seemed to want to touch him as her hand tried to flick up and connect to him but reflexively pulled back as if to keep her distance… like she was trying to pet a very pretty poisonous snake she was told wouldn't bite her, but she didn't fully trust it herself.

This wasn't good at all… He shouldn't love her… _Couldn't_ love her. Every single damn person he had ever loved in a familial way had died violent deaths… what would happen to one he was _in_ love with?

"Are you okay?" Her words encroached upon his thoughts.

He looked at her with new eyes, glad that the others weren't nearby to see him acting like this. "I'm fine."

"Then what happened to the argument?" she asked warily.

'_Do you mind?_' some part of him thought. '_I'm trying to _not _think about you because if I do, I'm sure… I'm sure I'll touch you… And I'm afraid you'll be disgusted._'

He really was too old for her, and too bloodstained… Never mind the fact that she was legal and he was young. Five years… it was a long time during this stage of their lives…

He turned away, trying to hide the confusion and pain in his eyes. "Forget it," he grunted.

She had apparently decided that it was worth the risk to touch him as he felt her tanned hand touch his arm. "Something's not right, Sanzo," she persisted, her voice as electric to him now as her power was to her foes. And it wasn't helping matters that her touch sent strange feelings up his arm, like she really was electrocuting him but in a different manner. "Tell me."

Tell her? Was she out of her mind? If he 'told' her, he would be using his mouth…

…But it wouldn't be used for speech.

"Drop it," he ordered, his words terse and strained as he pulled his arm away from her.

"Sanzo!"

He whirled, catching her by the upper arm and glaring at her in all of his confusion, annoyance, and pain. "I told you to drop it!"

Her temper flared, fueled by shock. "Or what?" she snapped, pulling her arm loose, her eyes sparkling dangerously even though her blush that had suddenly appeared remained upon her cheeks. "You gonna grab me again?"

'_You have no idea how much I want to right now,_' his rebellious thoughts said in the vaults of his mind.

He growled and ignored the implication in those mental words and did indeed snatch at her again, but this time she whirled away from his finger tips and opened her mouth once more.

"At the risk of sounding juvenile… You missed me, you missed me!" She sing-songed the last part out at him, her dark, coffee brown eyes glittering as she taunted him. "Now you gotta kiss m—_mph_!"

No longer was her mouth able to function to form words as Sanzo took her up on her 'juvenile offer', hands automatically encircling her arms to keep her from departing. Almost base instinct had overridden his good, sturdy judgment and now Ana was paralyzed by the velvet of his lips upon the silk of hers.

Both of their hearts pulsed within their ribcages as though they wanted to leap right out and their blood pumped strongly, making this touch even more exquisitely powerful and truer than any other touch before.

But Sanzo suddenly came to his senses and simultaneously broke the kiss and pushed her back, which caused her to stumble slightly though he didn't release her. His breath was heavy, slightly ragged. It was like he had run a marathon in the five seconds they had kissed. But the kiss, for some reason, felt a lifetime longer than just five seconds… and her eyes were glazed as she panted and looked at him in some mixture of shock, want, and… an emotion he couldn't identify readily despite that it burned in her eyes. It was a look that made him want to capture her lips again for another impassioned round.

He released her like he had discovered her to be a coral snake rather than a milk snake and backed away, his own eyes slightly glazed, though his breath was now under control.

"Sanzo?" she managed to say as her body remained still, but it came out as more of a whisper. He blinked, the glazed look leaving them as he did so.

"Leave me alone," he growled before storming out of the room, confused and angry… Confused by these emotions. Angry that he had given into impulse and had kissed her. And angry at her for not wanting to throw him off. At least rejection would have been better than…

The look on her face when they had parted drifted to the forefront of his mind once more. The look that made him want to just grab her and kiss her harder and…

He shook his head harshly once to rid himself of these thoughts as he slipped into his room that would be shared with by Hakkai. The Sanzo priest settled down on the bed, his head in his hands as he tried to sort out the mess of his heart and mind. It had been a mess for many, many years and he had never touched it for he really had never needed it. But now, with this set of emotions on top of the pile, he couldn't just leave them there. He had to bury them. Never touch them… no matter how much it would hurt.

He couldn't be weak. Weak people would be destroyed by what they were up against. And he couldn't afford to be weak…

…Then why was this tearing him up so bad at the mere prospect of never touching her again?

The Sanzo grabbed the folded paper that Hakkai had kindly placed upon the bed next to him, unfolded it, and tried so very hard to forget any thought of love and lust with the assistance of printed paper and the words it bore.

But Ana was having a far harder time. She was caught somewhere between Cloud Nine and Hell. She was ecstatic that _Sanzo_ had kissed _her_ and had looked like he wanted to again… but… The look on his face as he turned to leave. She didn't understand. And she felt very small right now, for it seemed like the chorus of angels that had gone off in her mind when his lips had touched hers… Her hand reached up to feel her lips. There had been so much passion in them. And she had felt like she had been consumed by fire, burning all over with no pain but exhilaration. But the world went suddenly cold and there was no more Sanzo. Nothing to say of the fact she had felt his furious strength and passion.

Ana stepped over to the nearest bed… incidentally Goku's… and flopped down on it with a dry sob and a muffled creak from the bed itself. Her sobs soon turned wet as she shivered, wishing Sanzo hadn't thrust her away. He… He loved her, didn't she? He certainly didn't seem to be the type to kiss without some sort of love in him. He wasn't frivolous like that. And he wasn't a bad person. She owed him so much and… perhaps that was it. She kept expecting more. She wanted more from him and it wasn't what he wanted.

Talk about horrible. She fingered the friendship necklace around her throat, feeling down the chain and to the dog tag itself to the opening where the star was and the shallow grooves that would form the word 'FRIENDS' if she looked at it.

"…Jake… what do I do?" she said softly to herself in English, noting the mental switchover absently. "I want him so bad… but I don't know if he even wants me." She buried her face into the covers and spoke again, her voice muffled to near silence by the quilt. "It would have been so much easier if I had never come here, but then again…" She turned her head, allowing light back to her eyes and he mouth to be freed again. "…Then again… I wouldn't have learned this kind of love, would I?" An ironic, sad smirk played across her lips. "And you'd've kept that stupid series all to your self, Tim. You should have told me how psychotic it was."

A hand ran itself through her hair and she bolted upright to turn and see no one in the room. Now sitting upright, she felt ghostly arms wrap themselves around her shoulders and the grip seemed to be that of a motherly figure. Glancing down indeed proved that there was no one there… up until arms faded into existence. Long, feminine arms and hands with nails painted a dark red color… She turned slightly to see a gently smiling Kanzeon Bosatsu sitting there, cradling her in hi-r arms.

"Hello," s-he said gently to the obviously confused girl. "I thought you'd like some comfort."

"What are you doing here?" asked Ana.

"As I said, offering comfort," Kannon said with a mischievous smile. "I see Sanzo isn't being very nice to you, kissing you and running off." '_Konzen certainly needs to straighten out his feelings,_' the god-dess thought to hi-rself.

Ana blushed at hi-r words. She turned away and stared somewhat at the ground, but didn't push hi-r off. "He doesn't like me, so why should you worry?"

"Because I'm your advocate, dear," Kannon said honestly. "I could have had you taken far away from this group, but I thought it better if you went with them. I just didn't expect Konzen to do that…" S-he mentally cursed the slip of hi-r tongue as Ana's face turned to hi-r in confusion.

"Konzen?" queried the Latina.

S-he sighed. "Sanzo, that is," the god-dess said.

"Does he have another name I need to know about?" asked Ana, her head cocking to one side like she was a spaniel as her eyebrow arched.

Kanzeon Bosatsu considered hi-r response for a moment before speaking again. "Do not tell any of the others I said this to you, but as you come from a world in which all of this is nothing more than a story for people to read, I see no problem with telling this to you. Konzen is my nephew. He died a very long time ago… five hundred years ago thereabouts…" Ana watched the god-dess intently, seeing the emotional struggle the hermaphrodite was having and politely stayed silent. "And he was eventually reborn as a human. As a boy that would one day grow up to be a Sanzo priest…"

"So… you love him because he's family?" reasoned out Ana. "Or at least, because he used to be?"

Kannon smiled sadly and cradled Ana to hi-r. "Yes. That's why…" s-he murmured, cradling this girl that was so very much a child to hi-r and allowing herself to be held close because she sensed this god's pain. This girl was a treasure without even realizing it. She was completely unsuited to battle. She had a mind that was perhaps a bit perverted at points but so wonderfully innocent. And she was fixing age-old wounds in these four men that used to be so familiar to hi-r.

Gojyo was capable of loving a woman without fear of rejection, even if it was in a familial way. Hakkai was much happier than he had ever been in a very long time as she had dispelled some of his hurt for having killed so many. Goku had someone to call his sister, who didn't fear him once she had seen his other self. And Sanzo… Sanzo was falling in love with her. She was a very bright light and they, cloaked in shadows, were drawn to her. Every one of them was drawn to her. Even Kannon hi-rself.

S-he was so glad… that Konzen's little flower was back with him.

"I'm sorry," Ana told her, bringing hi-r out of hi-r thoughts. "I'm sorry I made you remember all of that."

"I had never forgotten it, sweetie," admitted Kannon. "I had never forgotten. Now, one last bit of advice before I go. Don't let Konzen… Sanzo upset you. He's just as confused as you are. I can see it." S-he paused and, suddenly, the presence around Ana vanished. "_They've come back. I didn't want to be caught._" Those were hi-r final words to Ana.

The teenage woman laughed. "Sneak thief!" she giggled to the air, getting the feeling of an indignant huff from Kannon. "You're bad. So bad!"

There was a light push to her midsection from the front and Ana was sent tumbling backwards off the bed. "Eek!" she yipped as she hit the floor. "Oof!"

"Ana?" asked Hakkai, opening the door, seeing her on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"A-okay…" groaned Ana, rolling over onto her belly to get up. "Just… peachy keen." He was staring at her blankly. "What?"

"What did you say?" asked Hakkai slowly. Ana blinked.

"Oh…" she said in sudden realization. She had been speaking English. "Sorry!" she yipped in Chinese. "I didn't realize!" Then another thought hit her… the entire time that Kannon had been speaking with her… they had both spoken in English.

She stood and followed Hakkai out of the room as he left, chattering with the green-eyed demon and greatly heartened by the fact that he soon offered food to her.

Unknown to the girl, Kannon still watched… invisible to all eyes. A strange smile lit upon hi-r lips before s-he returned to Heaven.

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Silent Night is about a young boy by the name of Ellie Wisel (sp?) and his horrible experiences in the death camps during the second World War. A story so horrifying, it gains a whole new dimension when it is realized that this is a purely non-fiction account.

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MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED: 

Volume 6: Chapter 35: Opposite (Complete)

((Author's Note: Dun dun dun! On to the Kami-sama arc! XD Also, I know that this kissing scene was a little sudden, but rest assured, this isn't the end of the dance between Ana and Sanzo. He was being impulsive and now that he knows about his own feelings, he will be denying all the harder.))

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Please review. I do appreciate it. But from now on, I won't post how many I am requesting. 


	16. XV: Magician's Gambit

Disclaimer: If I had all the money in the world, I'd be a wealthy girl and would definitely give a hell of a lot of cash to Minekura to own Saiyuki! But I don't have all the money in the world, so I'm not a wealthy girl and therefore I cannot afford Minekura's most awesomest work. Yay... me...

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Reviews: I have a lot of reviews! So, so many this go-round! But first, I need to update some stats that readers have managed to achieve!

First of all, hits on my story!

The prologue totals 1441 hits, the first chapter got 386, 2nd got 328, 3rd got 329, 4th got 418, 5th got 290, 6th got 319, 7th got 271, 8th got 335, 9th got 269, 10th got 220, 11th got 139, 12th got 156, 13th got 178, and - finally - the 14th chapter got 190 hits! That is a total of 5269 hits on my story. I wonder how many are repeat readers, but I guess I'll never know, hm?

Secondly, the C2 archives that I've been put under (and no, I didn't ask to be put on these. They were chosen by others!) are "All Stories that ROCK!" and "Calliope's Playground". ASMUS was a part of the first one for a long, long time now, but the second showed up not too long ago. I'm very proud of the fact two C2s have honored my story. Hooray!

And thirdly, an author on by the penname of "Aiel-chan" sent me a PM about my story and has kindly told me that she liked my story so much that she advertises it on her site! Thank you, thank you! She said that at first she thought my fic would be one of those annoying ones that she hated (I hate 'em, too) and wanted to know if I was going to do the Kami-sama arc. Well, here's your answer, Aiel-chan! I am doing it and here's the first chapter to that particular part.

Fourthly, are all my loyal reviewers and some new ones here and there:

Twilight-to-Nightfall, he is an ass, obstinate, and in denial. He's not going to fess up any time soon. Sorry, but I like messing with Sanzo.

Mad Hatter, thank you for the compliment. I kinda let my fingers run away with me.

White Fire Alchemist, 'Depravity' made dear ol' ME sick. Physically ill. I'm serious. Why do you think I posted so many warnings all over it? If it made the authoress ill, then what would it do to others? Oh, yes, and the kiss. Yes, a kiss! I luv that part! It even surprised me when I began to write it!

Killa, here's the update.

Aiel-chan, thank you for the PM! I just had to tell everyone about it! Obviously. Heh. Kannon is fun to play with. S-he has actually become one of my favorite characters because of hi-r zany ways. Plus, Kannon is sorta her guardian in this world. I've already got a plan for something else to happen between Ana and Kannon, but you'll have to wait a long time to read it if I ever get there.

DaydreamerMagby, no. It isn't a black hole. It is a river that is very famous in Egypt. XD

DustBunnyQueen, I might have her do that, but I don't think she would know how to make a Molotov Cocktail. I could probably persuade Hakkai into making one and her possibly using it. I can see Hakkai holding that kind of knowledge. Can't you?

Kayla, Sanzo's a fun one to torture. And it is kinda hard to play him when he's acting all kooky in the head. I'm pressed very hard to keep him in character while he's screwy in the head... and other places but we won't go into that, shall we?

Corrina, as I noted in the other chapter, it had been a while in their world before it had happened. Story wise, yes, it was sudden, but there are time gaps so you'll have to watch them carefully. Plus, Sanzo's amazingly sweet under that nasty, gruff exterior. Ana is young and she's fascinated by him. Thus, a hilarious combination is born! Ta da!

PhantomoftheBasket, don't worry about the reviews thing. I was just making a reference to all comments of the like. And you are getting way too ahead of my game plan. I don't even know what might happen after a certain point. I'm certainly not planning this out! If Ana gets pregnant by Sanzo, I do know that the others will be staring at them like... WTF?! You WHAT, Sanzo?! And then they'd be laughing their asses off at him! I'm serious! Can't you just see it now?

Nami, yep! Here's the beginning!

DarkSahara, I forgot the exact name of the book, so that's why it wound up a bit of a misnomer. Anyway, that was an incredibly sad book. Sadly, I couldn't remember much about it. And even more sadly, they'll be ignoring each other.

A Reviewer, lucky you that you have a maid. I want one. Pout. Anyway... you bit your finger?! Is it okay? Oh, and it's fun making everybody so excited about the last chapter! So many hyper reviews! And the only reason Kannon did come down from Heaven to comfort her is because Kannon is her advocate. Do you think she would have stayed unless Kannon was backing her? Uh, no. Kannon can throw around the weight of hi-r authority and get what s-he wants most all the time. And s-he likes Ana. So, viola! God-dess comes to visit depressed teenage girl with hormone problems!

Antonia Wilder, thanks for not finding the kiss so sudden. Maybe you noticed the time lapse.

ShadowLuzid, what exactly do you think would happen after Sanzo thouroghly embarrasses himself? It is veeeery simple... He never brings it up again and avoids it. Sadly, there won't be too much avoidance shown for the audience to amuse themselves on. I'm just trying to finish this darn series and move to Reload!

User name, thank you to point one. Sorry I couldn't update sooner to point two. Thank you again for point three. And those blush moments are created by the fact that I like torturing Hakkai because he's so adorable (that's for point four). And finally, to point five I have to take a sweeping bow and say 'many thanks for your kindness and I am absolutely glad that you find that it rocks!'

Bluestocking, not really out of character for him if he reacts appropriately afterwards. We do things in the heat of the moment that we don't normally do. I've said many things I wouldn't have normally said when I'm worked up. And I've done things like that, too. So it really isn't too off the mark when they're having an argument that Sanzo does something rather stupid (in his eyes).

Silver-eyed, Kannon has spoken English before, remember? When Ana couldn't understand Chinese or Japanese? And since none of the guys understand it, it makes being overheard a lot harder to do. Plus, Kannon is a god-dess. Wouldn't it make sense to be able to speak in many different languages. Not every Buddhist speaks Chinese or Japanese. There are English speakers, too.

Risu-san, yes, I have tons of fun setting them up. Especially if it works both of them up and messes with Sanzo. He's too adorable to leave alone, don't you think?

Jaganshi Mori, welcome, welcome! I agree on that note of not finding too many good Saiyuki stories. There's a Saiyuki story I happened to like very much (it's completed now) called 'A Different Life'. It mainly features Hakkai and there are a few spoilers for volume 7 of Saiyuki Reload. But it is EXCELLENT and well written.

Thanks again to all who have reviewed!

Oh, and one final note: There are those of you that think that I have thought this story out, planned it out, and whatnot. I assure you, other than the cannon scenes, I really have no planning on this. I'm just writing, think that this scene or these words would be amusing-slash-interesting, insert them, and go on. I'm not actually being very 'plan-y person' here. This kind of writing is called by-the-seat-of-my-pants style. You like?

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Chapter XV: Magician's Gambit

((Author's Note: In this chapter, there will be a mention of the dreaded topic of 'menstrual cycle'… and the reason everyone knows Ana's going through it is because when you're cooped up in a confined area for a long time, you tend to know things about people you _really_ wish you didn't.))

"What the… hell?" muttered Gojyo in shock. The room was in chaos. The table was overturned on its side. And the chair laid on its back. The decorations that had once adorned the table and the dresser were toppled over or upside down. Their contents all over the place. What used to be a glass of tea was broken on the floor, the contents splashed out into a puddle. But what was most horrifying was…

Sanzo was slouched against the bed, his eyes closed and his form still. Goku laid nearby on his side, his eyes open and eerily blank. Behind the table was Hakkai on his back, his face turned away from the door though he was relatively closest and his eyes, too, were blankly staring. Ana was near the window, face down though her face was turned to one side, her eyes like Hakkai and Goku's… blank.

'_I'm dreaming…'_

"You've got to be kiddin' me," muttered an incredulous Gojyo as he continued to stare in disbelief, the groceries he had been sent to fetch on the floor, dropped the moment he had seen the scene.

"Hee, hee," giggled a kid as Gojyo slowly turned. "Why?" the boy asked as he came into view.

'…_This is a… nightmare…'_

"Isn't this what you wanted?"

'_What the fuck? How the hell did this happen?'_

**Earlier…**

"Jeep's sick?" chirped Goku, trying to figure out why Ana was curled up next to the dragon on the bed in a fetal position.

"I'm afraid so," confirmed Hakkai, making sure the cold compress remained firmly in place on Jiipu's head. "He has a high fever."

"Issit a cold? Does Ana have a cold, too?"

"Ehrm…" Hakkai blushed scarlet at the mention of Ana. He knew for a fact Ana didn't have a cold. In fact, she was being a bit… _ahem_… bitchy a few days earlier and was now trying to push her belly into not cramping so bad.

Simply put… and completely skirting the actual cause, Ana had cramps… and it wasn't because of something she ate.

"I think not, Goku," the green-eyed demon said, reigning in his blush. "We've been driving for days so Hakuryuu's probably just exhausted."

"Then we'd better let him sleep," concluded Gojyo as Goku hovered over the two on the bed. "And leave Little Miss PMS there, too." He caught her dark glare she aimed at him.

"Fuck you, asshole," she spat out from the middle of her ball. "I'd like to see _you_ deal with a period."

"No. Thank. You," he said, waving it off.

"Yes, yes," Hakkai said, trying to smooth over the impending argument between Gojyo and Ana. "It's quite unfair to overwork him. And… Ana-dono…" He lost control of his blush. "Ehrm…" Turning to the fifth person of their group, Hakkai spoke again. "Sanzo?" The priest looked up from his paper and peering slightly over his reading glasses. "Is it all right if we stay in town a few days?"

"Nn…" muttered the priest, turning back to his paper. "We can only go so far on foot. It's not like we have a choice."

"Thank goodness for that," Hakkai said to himself, pulling a sheet of paper out of his pocket. "Well then, Gojyo." He gained his friend's attention and held out the list of groceries. "If you'd be so kind," the youkai said with his typical sweetheart grin. Gojyo stared for a moment at the sheet.

"What's this?" asked the hanyou as he pointed at the sheet, not wanting to take it.

"It's a shopping list. Can't you tell?" asked Hakkai, his voice not holding the sound of sarcasm though the words implied it. "I'm afraid I have to stay with Jiipu." Gojyo reluctantly took the sheet of paper and turned to Goku, reaching out a hand to snag the chimp by the shoulder.

"Oi, Monkey. Come with—"

"Ah!" Hakkai said, bringing Gojyo's attention back to him. "Please don't take Goku. The two of you together will waste our money."

Gojyo looked at Ana, still curled on the bed. "Are you done crampin' yet?" he asked her.

"Not in the last minute, no… and it hasn't gotten any better since then either. So you'll have to go it alone, Gojyo-_sama_," drawled Ana as she undid her fetal position just a bit.

The kappa blinked and looked at Sanzo in an appraising manner, wondering if it was even worth the effort to ask. Sanzo glanced at him before producing his gold card. "Marlboro. Red. Filtered," he told the red-haired man.

Gojyo twitched in anger. "You lousy priest." He grabbed the gold card out of Sanzo's hand, wishing he had enough guts to punch the priest, before walking out of the room and inn to fetch the things that the group needed.

An hour and a half later, Gojyo was now sporting the very fashionable look of groceries. "Screw this," muttered the kappa as he balanced the two brown paper sacks full of food and the like. "Since when is this crap _my_ job?" he bitched. "I can't pick up chick carrying this junk. I'm not some fetch-boy they can—" His litany was interrupted by low, suspicious talking. "Huh?" The noise was originating not on the street but in that alley…

"Ya crashed into me an' scuffed my shoes! Ye're gonna haveta make up for that."

Some dudes crowding up on what could only be a defenseless lady by the way they were holding themselves. Time to save the day!

"Those're some nice clothes ya got there," leered one of the thugs. "Any cash in yer—_Buh_!" Whatever he was going to say next was rudely interrupted by Gojyo's foot to the back of his head.

"There're idiots like you in every town I visit," Gojyo said, resting his foot upon the goon's head despite his sputtering. "I wish some of you'd develop some goddamn shame." He saw the one they were attacking. A kid. A fairly wealthy looking kid, now that he thought about it. "Is that a kid? Man… so much for the 'kiss from a hot lady' reward," bitched Gojyo to himself.

"Hey! Yer dead, ya damn punk!" snarled the thug under his foot, twisting out from underneath as he glared in his most menacing style.

"Yeah?" asked Gojyo, making the punk freeze up and shiver a tiny bit for not liking the tone of the voice suddenly. Gojyo looked at the thug with intense red eyes smoldering in his anger and frustration. "I'm in a _very_ shitty mood right now. So don't say I didn't warn you."

Two minutes later, there was a noticeable lack of thugs thanks to Gojyo's shitty attitude and fists and Gojyo handed a lemon soda to the kid, his groceries unloaded upon a nearby crate. "Here," he said. While Gojyo was a ladies' man, he was also a super sucker for underdog kids.

"Um… th-thank you," the kid said nervously, accepting the drink.

"Drink and then scram," Gojyo told him. "You shouldn't be near a place like this in clothes like that." They settled down on the crates near the groceries. "You get separated from your mom or somethin'?" asked Gojyo.

"No," the kid said, looking down at the can of soda. "My father and mother died some time ago."

Gojyo looked at him in concern. "You're alone?" he asked.

"I have a brother," the boy said, smiling up at Gojyo. "We're twins, and we're very close."

"Oh," Gojyo said in a mild relief, reaching out to ruffle the boy's hair with a hand, gaining a laugh as he did so. "That's not too shabby." He pulled his hand back.

"Anyway… you're really strong, mister! You beat three guys at once."

"Huh?" Gojyo flicked his cigarette to rid it of the ashes. "Yeah, I guess. I'm nothin' compared to the guys I travel with, though."

"Are they your friends?"

"Keh," snorted Gojyo. "'Friends' is a pretty strong word." His frustration got the better of him as images of his companions filtered through his mind. "One's a stupid monkey with a stomach for a brain, one's a monk with his habit wrapped just a little too tight, there's another guy who nags me like my mom, and the one girl out of all of us is a real noisy brat that is always siding with the others. Hooking up with them's left me a chick-free errand chump," bitched Gojyo. He could really imagine all their ill qualities right now due to his frustration.

"They're not your friends?" asked the kid, shocked. "Then why are you with such terrible people?"

"Good question," mused Gojyo. _'And why is this kid hitting all my pain buttons?'_ he thought internally.

"Mister," the boy said. "Do you hate those people?"

"Wha?" asked a very confused Gojyo as he looked at the kid.

The minutes felt very long as Goku sing-songed quietly to himself the word 'hungry'. "…He's late."

Hakkai looked up at the priest. "Gojyo, you mean? I noticed that myself. Perhaps I should have gone with him despite my duties here. I hope he didn't get mixed up in anything."

"Hungry… Hungry!"

"Hn," grunted Sanzo. He pointedly ignored the girl on the bed, now laying more or less on her back and not tucked in under herself. His feelings were still there, but he was valiantly trying to control them. "I couldn't care less about Gojyo. I was wondering why my _smokes_ were late. This is my last Marlboro Red, dammit."

"Shut the hell up, Goku!"

"But I'm hungry!" protested Goku.

"Do I look like I care?! I'm PMSing over here bad and I don't need your fuel to my fire!"

"Perhaps it is time to cut back?" asked Hakkai, ignoring the scene of the two teenagers. "You're getting as bad as Gojyo with those things."

"Heeeey!" Goku said, Hakuryuu resting in his arms, looking over at the two adults with his bright, innocent eyes. "I'm hung—"

THWACK!

"Can it, you stupid ape. Ana told you to shut up, now do it!"

"Why th' heck didja hit me for?! All I said was I'm hungry!" protested Goku.

"Don't eat Jeep—We need him to travel," Sanzo said even as there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Hm. One moment," called Hakkai as Ana sat up.

"Jeez, Sanzo. Why don't you just thwack his head right off and he won't bug you as much?" she said in a dry, sarcastic tone. She was still very bitter about the whole scene a couple weeks back and wasn't at all interested in playing nice with the priest.

"Feh," snorted Sanzo, apparently remembering the same incident.

"Can I help you?" asked Hakkai, opening the door. Beyond the portal was a young boy dressed in very nice clothes. "Why, hello there," Hakkai said congenially, trying to be nice to the child. "Do you have some business with this room?" He rested his hands on his knees to get down more to the boy's level. "Or are you lost, perhaps?"

It was slightly perplexing when the boy said, "You must be them, right?" His smile was bright. "You guys are those bad people!"

"…What?" breathed Hakkai as he straightened.

Within the room, a sudden shadow loomed over Goku and they all snapped around to see a monstrosity of a creature totally inhuman in appearance.

"--?!! Wha?!" exclaimed Goku in shock as the others tried to protect their backs from the monster.

"Oh, god!" gasped Ana, vaguely hearing the sing-song that came from the boy.

"I fooound you."

Though they didn't see it immediately, the boy produced an odd gourd from within his cloak, an eye set into it. Mere moments later, strange tendrils shot from the object and sang through the air to grab tight to Hakkai's wrist, clutch at Goku's chest and head, snapped around Sanzo's own face and throat, and bound Ana's arm to her torso as the other was strapped to her neck. Surprised sounds came from their throats, but none could fend off whatever was binding them.

"Die," said that strange boy.

The tendrils lifted Goku clear off his feet. "What the—Hey!" The Monkey King couldn't stop himself from being thrown against the wall, but missed and hit the chest of drawers instead, knocking over the vase placed there.

"Goku!" shouted Hakkai. The gourd released the teen and he fell to the ground, motionless. His eyes remained open… and blank.

"Stop it!" shrilled Ana. "Goku!"

"What happened to his eyes?!" panicked Hakkai. "He wasn't hit hard enough to—"

He had no time to finish his sentence as Ana's body sparked brightly where it connected to the vines and Sanzo whipped out his gun. Seeing both counter attacks, the boy told them, "Don't bother."

Simultaneously, it threw Ana against the wall next to the window, her breath escaping her in a gasp and her energy retreating quickly back into her, and knocked Hakkai into Sanzo, throwing off the priest's counter attack.

"Aaah!" Hakkai uttered, his eyes wide in pain.

Suddenly Sanzo understood. The gourd was sucking the souls out of them! Shit!

Hakkai was dropped at Sanzo's feet, his eyes wide and blank. _'There. That's how it works,'_ he thought desperately as he tried to buy some time. "Dammit! Who the hell are you?!"

The boy ignored his words. "Just one left." With that, Sanzo was also sent across the room, and collided with the floor next to the bed.

The priest was still conscious and saw the ash tray that had been resting on the table before this entire debacle. Beside the remains of several smoked cigarettes and their ashes was a still-burning one. "D—" he managed aloud. _'Damn it all to hell.'_ Desperately, he reached out to grab it, clutching at that burning tip despite the pain it caused.

"Bye-bye… Mr. Bad Men," laughed the kid as Sanzo used his burns to retain consciousness. And then… they left. But unknown to the Sanzo who soon lost consciousness mere moments later, they would come back to witness the reaction of the one they had granted a 'wish' to.

A few hours after he had left the kid, Gojyo managed to get all the things on the list and was headed back to the inn. "Woah," he muttered. "I lost track of time. The sun's already set." His mind flashed back to that strange kid that called himself 'Kinkaku'. _'What a weird little kid. He was tossing an awful lot of personal questions my way.'_ He pushed the door open to the room they had reserved. "Yoo-hoo," he called as he opened it with a thin creak. "I picked up the stuff you—"

He fell silent, seeing the horror before him, the bags of groceries hitting the ground with a thud on either side of him. Gojyo took a step forward into the room. "What the… hell?" he managed, his face a picture of pure shock as he looked upon his friends lying so still, looks of shock on three of the four faces. "Sanzo? Goku? Ana?! _Hakkai_?!" he exclaimed upon seeing each fallen friend.

He threw himself into the room as he snapped out, "Oi! What the hell is going on?! You guys better be playing some kinda joke!" He was frightened and confused. What the hell was going on?

"But this was what you wanted. Wasn't it, mister?" asked Kinkaku as Gojyo turned in shock to look… at the youkai child with the character for 'loyalty' upside down inscribed in a circle upon his forehead, a gourd in his hand and a monster at his side.

'_This is a nightmare…'_ thought Gojyo even as the boy began to speak again.

"A stupid monkey with a stomach for a brain. A monk with his habit wrapped just a little too tight. A guy who nags you like your mom. A girl who is a noisy brat that never sides with you." Shit. That was what he… "Now all those people you hate are gone. I got rid of them for you." He smiled brightly. "It's my way of thanking you for all the help you gave me!"

"…" '_S-son of a bitch. You're fuckin' kidding me.'_ "What the h-hell?" he managed to say, his face fraught with severe disbelief. "_You_ did all this?" His anger was boiling up now. "Then you're… You're a goddamn assassin from Gyumaoh!"

"Gyumaoh?" asked the boy, his happiness for having helped dwindling into confusion. "I've never heard of—"

"Cut the bullshit!" overrode Gojyo, summoning Shakujyo and crouching down to ready himself for an attack, either by him or directed at him. "What the hell did you do to them?!"

The boy was now terribly confused. "Wait a second. Why are you so angry? You said… You said you didn't…"

Suddenly, the monster behind him started forward with a terrible roar.

"Ginkaku!" shouted the boy in shock. He wasn't the only one as Gojyo felt it quite keenly himself but in a more 'oh, fuck' manner. "Don't, Ginkaku!" shouted the youkai child. "This man isn't bad!"

A gunshot rang out, blood spurting from a small round hole that suddenly appeared on 'Ginkaku's chest.

"Wha?!" exclaimed Gojyo even as the demonic-looking beast screamed out in pain.

"Ginkaku!" shouted the horrified kid.

"…Oy," said the most welcome voice that Gojyo could have ever heard. The kappa turned slightly and saw Sanzo crouched where he had fallen, his gun trained on the beast though he could easily switch targets to the boy if he posed more of a threat. "You think you can play hero by making us the bad guys? You're a goddamn brat." His violet eyes were hard as he asserted his point in his usually abrupt manner.

"Sanzo!" Gojyo exclaimed in relief. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Don't just assume people are _dead_, nimrod," bit out the priest. "But I don't know about Hakkai, Goku… and Ana."

"Huh?" There was a brief flicker of wonder over the pause that the blonde had made when he had come to Ana's name. But the wonder was soon replaced by downright confusion. What had happened exactly to the others? Why_were_ they so still?

"Ginkaku!" fretted the kid. "Please, _please_ be all right!" He hovered over the monster that was glaring balefully around him to Sanzo.

"You, kid," the priest said to gain the boy's attention as he trained his gun once again. "What are you after? And where'd you get the gourd?"

He spun and shouted, "B-but I didn't _do_ anything! I was just trying to…"

An image of a child about the boy's age… head downturned… hands fisted at his sides… _"But I didn't do anything."_ The boy's hair was blood red and if his eyes could have been seen, it would be obvious that they, too, were the color of freshly spilled blood.

An image that Gojyo knew only too well, for he had _been_ that image once.

The monster turned and grabbed the boy. "--?! Hey!" shouted Gojyo, confusion setting in as 'Ginkaku' moved towards the window.

"Dammit!" snarled Sanzo as he pulled the hammer back on his gun… only to have it shoved to point at the ceiling by Gojyo's hand.

"You piece of shit priest!" Gojyo said, his nerves strung tight. "You can't just shoot a kid!"

"You idiot! Back off!_Now_!"

It was too late, though, as Ginkaku barreled through the window, the youkai child in his grasp. They were soon out of sight in the window and Sanzo wrenched his hand from Gojyo's grasp, running to the window to see if he could still see them.

However… there was no one in sight. He clenched his teeth, his fear turning quickly to anger. Anger that Gojyo had just lost them their chance to save the others… To save… Ana… He wheeled around and punched Gojyo in the jaw. The kappa remained looking away as Sanzo verbally tore into him, his anger turning to rage. "Don't you dare judge _me_, asshole! And what the hell kind of bullshit are you spouting now? That kid attacked us!"

"…Sorry," Gojyo apologized, looking down slightly at the ground. He knew he was wrong. He just fucked up. He knew that. But something screamed at him to not hurt the kid… the kid that reminded him… of himself.

"Tch…" grated Sanzo. "Start talking, Gojyo." The priest shifted to look at the red-haired man, his feet next to Ana's still form and the others on the floor behind him as he delivered the topic of discussion. "Was the kid telling the truth? He said you _wanted_ this."

Gojyo's head snapped up. As they moved Goku and Hakkai up to lay on one bed and Ana to lay on the next, righting the table and chairs as they went, Gojyo sketched out the scene earlier in a monotone until the end. "I thought it was a joke," he confessed finally. "He wouldn't quit asking, so I told him where we're staying. He slid down to sit next to one of the shuttered windows, Sanzo sitting at the table, listening to his every word. "Goddamnit!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the wall. "What the hell is going on?!"

Sanzo sat there, staring at Ana's chillingly blank face as he processed the information Gojyo had given him. Unaware of his 'friend's' processing, Gojyo forced himself to speak again.

"…Say something."

"'Something'," Sanzo said blandly, fulfilling what Gojyo had asked of him.

Gojyo needed someone to vent on and Sanzo had given him an opportunity. "Are you makin' fun of me?!"

"I will once we've fixed this," Sanzo informed him. "Talking to you now might spread your stupidity."

Gojyo twitched, not liking this response as he was very angry at himself. He stood abruptly and looked at the priest. "So that's it, huh? Fine! Please forgive this unworthy soul!" Gojyo said, splaying his left hand across his chest. "And do enlighten your foolish underling,_Lord_, as to what in the fuck is going on! Is that okay, Sanzo? Can you _divulge_, Mighty Lord?!" He was so very angry at himself as he shouted these words. He might have been treating Sanzo a bit unfairly, but he was so mad at himself…

Sanzo remained silent, weathering the attack for the moment as he thought, _'He wasn't the only one to let his guard down.'_ Slowly, the Sanzo priest filled his companion in on what had happened after the youkai kid that had come to their rented room. "The burns kept me conscious until the kid left," he said, examining the very burn marks on his hand. Minor, thankfully. "Hakkai, Goku, and Ana weren't so lucky."

"This is frickin' insane," muttered Gojyo.

"Look," Sanzo said to grab Gojyo's attention. "That gourd separates consciousness from bodies and absorbs people's spirits. That's what happened to them." He gestured at the bed. "They're nothing but soulless shells now."

Gojyo happened to be looking right at Sanzo as he said this and saw something he didn't expect. Sanzo actually looked… sad as his eyes passed towards the direction Gojyo knew Ana's still form was. What the hell? What was going on in that priest's head? But then the words caught up to him. "Wait!" he said, slamming his hands on the table. "Does that mean they're not dead?"

"I assume so." The blonde's eyes slid closed for a moment. "But since I can't say for sure, it may just be a matter of time." Gojyo grabbed his vest off the back of the chair where he had shed it not too long before. "…Hey. Where do you think you're going?"

"To wipe my ass, dickweed," the kappa said, half turning to look at the priest. "We can't do anything without the kid. I'm gonna try and find out where he ran to."

Sanzo considered it for a moment as Gojyo turned to the door, shrugging on his vest and pulling out his bandana as he went. "Wait," he said, halting the kappa before the headband was in place. "I'm going with you."

"San—" Gojyo said, relieved that someone was going to come with him. And that perhaps Sanzo had forgiven him.

Sanzo walked past him, rubbing at the side of his neck. "Since you're the King of Solo Screw-Ups," Sanzo said, not wanting the kappa to gain the wrong idea. Gojyo twitched, growing angry for Sanzo's 'kind words' got him right below the belt. "Let's get going."

"…Is today unlucky for Scorpios or somethin'?" the kappa mused to himself, trying to focus on the task at hand… saving his companions.

They went downstairs and spoke to the barkeep. They asked about the kid Kinkaku and his brother, Ginkakau the monster. "A kid with a monster," mused the barman as he cleaned a wine glass. "Well, I don't know about a kid, but I've heard plenty about a monster." He leaned in, stilling his hands from cleaning the glass. "You know that mountain behind the village?" he asked, lowering his voice. "Rumor says a creature showed up in the forest there about a year ago."

"Has it caused any damage?" asked Sanzo, swirling the ice around in his fortifying drink. He had a feeling he'd need it soon.

"No one's reported being attacked, if that's what you mean. Still…" The bar man gave a sigh. "There _have_ been some strange deaths in town these past few months."

"Strange in what way?" pressed Sanzo.

"Not a trace of injuries," explained the man. "It's like their souls just… left their bodies. I'm not one to say bad things about the dead… so keep this one to yourself. All the people who died were people you 'stay away from'. Know what I mean? Everyone's saying it's divine retribution." Sanzo and Gojyo looked at each other, both hearing the very thing that they needed to hear.

"I think we've heard enough," Sanzo said, placing his drink upon the bar and standing to leave.

"Thanks, pops. You've been a big help," Gojyo added, tossing his two yen in.

"Hey!" an angry shout came through the crowd. Gojyo turned and his eyes fell onto a couple of punks obviously happy with having found the kappa. "I've been _lookin'_ for yer ass, Red! Now I can pay ya back for earlier _proper_!"

"Who are you?" asked Gojyo. He was totally drawing a blank on these guys. "Hm?"

"Don't play dumb, asshole! Ya did me an _injustice_ this afternoon!"

"Ooh," Gojyo said, smacking his fist in his palm as he suddenly remembered, a very innocent expression on his face. "You were the guys with the balls to try and fight me!" He turned away to follow the impatient Sanzo. "Sorry, but I don't have the time to play. Later!" The last word was said in a slightly sing-song manner.

"Y-ya stupid bitch!" said an infuriated thug. "Ya think we're gonna just let ya walk away?!" At that, several 'patrons' to the bar circled around him and Sanzo.

The priest was unimpressed. "It doesn't matter who we meet. _You_, Gojyo, are a curse."

"Thank you for the compliment," Gojyo said dryly, not liking how this was beginning to look.

"Sowing seeds is a choice you make for yourself," the priest continued. "But _do not_ sow the ones that become a pain in _my_ ass, dimwit."

Gojyo was losing his patience fast and Sanzo was pissing him off, so he did probably the worst thing he could think of. He egged Sanzo on. "Gracious me. To think such a thing could come from the mouth of the exalted high priest. Gojyo's moved to tears by his wondrous teachings. _Baldie_."

Sanzo drew his gun and pointed it at Gojyo's head, which happened to be right next to him during these proceedings. "If you have the guts to try Hell, call me that again, cockroach!"

"Maybe I'd be braver with a saucy escort, Cherry-chan."

Suddenly, Sanzo fired off two shots directed at the kappa, both of which were avoided and sent several thugs edging back in sudden fear. If this guy was willing to shoot at a companion… what would he do to them?

"Hah!" crowed Gojyo, his arm swinging out in triumph. "I've figured out your pattern—You'll never hit me now, moron!"

"Can't you see I missed on purpose, peabrain?" Sanzo asked acidly.

Both of them were angry. Angry at the other. Angry at their own selves. They were scared, too. Scared for Hakkai, Ana, and Goku. And neither could express such feelings in that manner to the other.

"Eat me! I knew from the start of this ass-sucking quest we'd never get along!" roared Gojyo, looking for a fight in the priest.

"You're telling me?" snarled out the priest. "If the Three Aspects hadn't ordered me to, I wouldn't travel to the _bathroom_ with a demented kappa like you!"

Their lovely 'discussion', however, was interrupted. "Ya goddamn punks! Don't ignore the likes of—"

"_Can it_," both men said simultaneously, Gojyo kicking the loud-mouthed moron in the balls and Sanzo slamming the butt of his gun into the jaw of the other man near him. Both thugs went down for the count. None of the men could dare hope to compare to the two most irate members of the Sanzo-ikkou _especially_ after they were just arguing and were soon groaning in pain as the two left the inn.

"…Hunh. We might as well get moving up that mountain. It's our only lead right now to finding that kid," Sanzo said, feeling a bit better after the earlier discussion, some of his fear worked out. Not to say it wasn't there, but now it was a bit more manageable.

"And what about Goku, Hakkai, and Ana?" asked Gojyo, following the priest out of the town. The kappa saw how Sanzo's step froze for a half-second at the mention of Ana. Gojyo only noticed it because he knew Sanzo fairly well. Someone else wouldn't have ever noticed. However, the blonde man continued as if he hadn't stopped.

"Whatever the case, we can't use Jeep. Carry them piggy-back if you have to."

"Damn. Just my luck. I'm stuck with Mr. Tight-ass," bitched Gojyo.

"Give it a rest," Sanzo said blithely. "I'll just kill you if you get in my way, that's all."

"How painfully reliable." Gojyo decided a change of subject was needed. "Question for you, Oh Holy One."

Sanzo twitched at the 'title' that Gojyo made seem verging an insult. "What?"

"Why have you been so weird to Ana lately?" asked the kappa. Again, Sanzo's pace went a little weird, only really noticeable to those who were close to him. "I mean… you seemed to be just fine up until after that damn big fight with the youkai. What happened? She say something you didn't like?" The two of them had been avoiding each other like crazy since a little while ago… back at that town where all the youkai had attacked. And the little fact that neither of them made an effort to speak to one another. They would talk around each other like the other person was a lamp post or something. Both would gain a distant look if not involved in some kind of conversation. Ana would get a faraway sad look and Sanzo would gain a similarly faraway but much more irritated look. And Sanzo had been re-reading old ratty newspapers over and over again. If that didn't set off warning bells, Gojyo didn't know what did.

"It's none of your business," Sanzo replied shortly.

"And she seems miserable, too, if you discount the whole bitchy PMS thing that makes her remind me waaay too much of you."

"…"

"Look. I don't get exactly what's going…" He trailed off as a sudden idea came to him. "Did she jump you or something?" Sanzo's shoulders stiffened ever so slightly as he kept marching forward but remained silent. Regardless, Gojyo's mouth just about dropped open. "Fuck, Sanzo! Did you jump _her_?"

"Drop it, you idiot!" snarled the priest, turning to glare at the man behind him. Gojyo's face portrayed pure shock.

"You like her! That's why you're all freaked out!" The kappa gained a coy look the moment Sanzo began twitching more noticeably. He knew that he was close to setting off a huge fight with Sanzo and couldn't help but push. ((A/N: Pun intended. Read aloud if you don't get it. Has to do with a same-sounding word.)) "Oh, my. Our Sanzo's all grown up!"

"I didn't do anything to her!"

"Oh, really? Well, you might not have fucked her, but I'm pretty sure you did something else. And I'm betting she did nothing to stop you."

"I told you to drop it!" Though Gojyo couldn't see the priest's face, he could almost sense the furiously angry-slash-embarrassed blush that was on Sanzo's cheeks.

"The way she just looks at you kinda gave it away on her end," Gojyo said with a shrug. "So damn longing and all. You should go for it. She's a cute girl."

"This coming from the ass that said she was a noisy brat?" snapped Sanzo, stepping past the final building in the town.

"Touché," admitted Gojyo, surprised internally that the majority of his anger was gone like the wind. "I was pissed at the time. I'll admit that." Sanzo glanced back over his shoulder at the kappa, partially in suspicion. "I still say you go for it. You two are five years apart. That's not too big an age gap. And as I said, she's a beautiful woman. If she hadn't've been so into blondes, I might've had a shot."

Sanzo's gaze hardened and his head snapped around back front. "She wouldn't go for you even if she wasn't interested in blondes," he said sourly. Gojyo gave a cat-got-the-cream smile at the man's back. _'Gotcha…'_ he thought to himself. _'You are way in over your head, buddy. I'm sure you'll give in soon. She's too smart to let you get away. And you've already fallen, I bet.'_

* * *

Far away in Heaven, Kannon laughed to hi-rself as s-he gazed through hi-r binoculars. "Those two miscreants are making things messy," s-he mused, amused.

"What are you ding_now_, Bosatsu?" asked Jiiroushin of his master. He had dealt with hi-r antics for a long time and he was still trying to get numb to them.

"What I feel like," Kanzeon told him as s-he lowered the binoculars.

"You realize this is no laughing matter. That group is on a serious mission," he chided. "…And yet they continue to side track."

"It's not _always_ a waste of time to stop, kiddo." Kannon rested hi-r head on hi-r hand and closing hi-r eyes with a smile. "Besides… those guys still have a long way to go. And this side story is even _more_ important as Kenren is getting Konzen to open his eyes. And maybe his heart, too. Just a little at any rate."

* * *

Back on earth in a forest, the silence was soon deemed oppressing by Gojyo, so he decided to risk his health again. "…Hey."

"What?" Sanzo said flatly, hoping he didn't bring up Ana and him again as they walked through the forest on the mountain.

"I wanna ask you something."

Sanzo's shoulders tensed ever-so slightly. "Then ask," he told him. _'As long as it isn't about me.'_

"Uh… Climbing the mountain's dandy and all. But do you know where we're going?" drawled Gojyo, almost hearing the unspoken plea in the air. It was kinda weird to see Sanzo acting so… human. He wasn't used to the idea of Sanzo having normal reactions and behaving irrationally at times. And he knew if he pushed Sanzo right now, he was asking for death… and might as well assist the process by taking and painting a target on his forehead.

"No," Sanzo said simply.

"You son of a—"

"What?" interrupted Sanzo. "Put those feelers on your head to work."

"They're _not_ antennae, you piece of shit priest!" Gojyo growled. _'Damn Goku for making that cockroach comment!'_ He glared distinctly away from Sanzo as he thought his next words._ 'Arrogant prick!'_

'_Waste of skin,'_ was Sanzo's own internal words. He hated the fact that Gojyo had pushed at every damn button he had on the subject of Ana. It was bad enough that the girl _liked_ him. Gojyo was compounding the problem.

"Screw it," Gojyo said, halting. "Since we're going nowhere, we might as well think about this." He dropped down to sit on the stump of a tree. "There's no point in wandering around like idiots."

"Wow," drawled Sanzo, puffing at his cigarette. "An impressive deduction from you." He pulled his cigarette from his lips and looked at the 'waste of skin'. "So think. What do you know about this mystery boy?"

"Not much, I can tell you that. I'm pretty sure his name is Kinkaku."

"Kinkaku?" asked Sanzo, connecting something within his mind as he scrambled for the name of the beast that Kinkaku said so many times.

"Right. He said his parents are dead, and… hm. Oh—he's got a little brother. I think they're supposed to be pretty good friends."

"A little brother," mused Sanzo. "Come to think of it… He kept calling that monster a name. 'Ginkaku'."

"Huh?" Gojyo's head snapped up to look at Sanzo. "Wait a sec. You're not saying—"

"Maybe I am. Think about it," Sanzo said, glancing away.

"But they don't look alike."

"Use that thing you call a head and maybe you'll damn well get it," Sanzo bit out.

"Get the hell off my case!" snarled Gojyo.

"I never said the brother was _born_ like that. Maybe that monster form is a type of transformation. And I'm worried about that kid's crusade against evil. It sounds like it was fed into him and he's believing that bullshit." He turned to Gojyo. "All signs point to someone else behind this."

Gojyo considered it for a moment. "…Like God?"

"What?" demanded Sanzo, snapping around and looking at the kappa.

"Now that I think of it, he said that he had 'Kami-sama' on his side…"

* * *

"..ku! Goku!"

"Can you hear us?"

"…Nn… Wha?" bemoaned Goku, his eyes opening to see both Hakkai and Ana hovering worriedly over him. He looked and focused on the two. "H-Hakkai? Ana?"

The green-eyed man gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Are you all right?"

"Nn… Izzit breakfast already?"

"He's okay," drawled Ana, sitting back to balance on the balls of her feet as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was clad in a plain white tank and pale khaki pants, white shoes on her feet.

"Ha ha ha," Hakkai chuckled in a semi-forced laugh. "Oh, if only that were the case." He was dressed in a long sleeved, loose turtleneck of the same plain white and nearly identical khaki pants and white shoes.

Goku sat up and looked around, not really noticing his own attire of a white short-sleeved shirt with a taller collar with three buttons undone down the front of the throat and his own khaki pants and white shoes. "Huh?" he uttered, catching an eyeful of the landscape. "Hey! Wh-where th' heck are we?!" cried out the shell-shocked teen, unknowingly echoing Ana from a couple minutes before when she had seen this strange world.

It was a barren landscape of dry, sandy earth. That wasn't nearly as disturbing as the bones of human remains littered the area, skulls here and there, ribcages pointing at the sky and some smashed, and various small bones, femurs, and other bones interspersed between for 'aesthetic appeal'. Hakkai grimly surveyed the landscape once more himself. Ana didn't look.

"Do you remember what happened?" asked Hakkai. "We were attacked by a boy. When I woke up, all of us were lying here."

"What are you trying to say, Hakkai?" asked Ana, looking at the eldest of their current group as she stood up to stretch her cramping legs.

"Hm," mused the youkai. "I didn't think Heaven would accept us. And yet Hell has proven to be terribly plain."

Ana stared at him in pure disbelief as Goku said softly, "…No way. We died?"

"I'm afraid so," Hakkai said bluntly, his smile not at all present to show the seriousness of the situation.

"Whaaaat?!" shrilled Ana. "I couldn't have died and gone to Hell! I've yet to commit any serious crime other than stealing little things! And money! I'll admit to the money from Dad's wallet!"

"B-but Hakkai!" Goku said, concentrating on a different problem. "Can I eat in Hell? Do we get seven meals a day like we should?!"

The monkey was quite amusing in his 'point' that Hakkai couldn't help but smile. "I should hope such torture doesn't exist. But joking aside…" He looked at the both of them. "Do you two feel as though you died?" he asked as he hooked his hands into his pockets.

"Nuh-uh! A sissy attack like that wouldn't kill me!" Goku said immediately.

"Same here," Ana informed Hakkai as she took a favorite no-nonsense stance her mother often took when trying to get her and Tim to cooperate. "While choking me _could_ kill me, those vine thingies weren't doing a very thorough job of it. And the throw against the wall wasn't hard enough to knock me out."

"I thought as much," mused Hakkai.

"S-Sanzo!" Goku said, turning to see if he could spot the priest. "Where's Sanzo, Hakkai?!"

"I'm not sure," admitted Hakkai. "While I was conscious, Sanzo seemed pretty safe. The fact that he's not here implies he might have been saved."

Ana nodded. "He was strung up like the rest of us, but he didn't seem to be having the same problems we were having."

"But that's bad!"

"Hm?" murmured Hakkai, looking at the monkey.

"We can't die before Sanzo does!" Goku said, his worry apparent on his face.

"…Indeed we can't," agreed Hakkai. "When I think about the others surviving alone, I simply can't remain dead. I suppose that answers that." He grinned widely. "We have to return."

"Woo!"

Ana was just staring at their strangeness. "Have you two done this sort of thing before or are you always this blasé about things? Personally, I'm freaked all to hell that I'm even here when I was sure there was no bone-strewn desert nearby. And the fact I've probably left my body behind without inviting it along for the ride."

"And what about you, Ana-dono?" grinned Hakkai. "You seem pretty blasé yourself."

"If I had my way? I'd be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but it wouldn't serve anything to do that. Now… where's the exit? I really don't want to take up permanent residence."

"Good point…" Hakkai said, squinting out into the expanse, shielding his eyes with a hand. Ana and Goku followed his lead and looked out upon the barren land.

"I can't see nothin' out there," the golden-eyed teen admitted. Goku must have heard something, so he looked right at the ground. "Huh?"

Suddenly an all-black hand burst up from the ground.

"Ew!" erked out Ana, backing up a step. Goku's face had a similarly revolted look.

"Oh, dear," sighed out Hakkai. "Hell's guardians are making their appearance." Even as he said this, more hands… soon followed by heads, shoulders, torsos, and legs… burst from the earth. Their heads lacked faces and their entire bodies were covered in black. They looked like three-dimensional shadows.

"Uh… okay. I guess we've gotta say hello," Goku said nervously, the three of them back to back as the monsters came out of the ground on all sides.

"Can I go _home_ already?" asked Ana plaintively.

* * *

"He said God was with him?" demanded Sanzo.

"Or someone calling himself Kami-sama, yeah," Gojyo said, standing. He edged closer to Sanzo and said, "Let's ditch this place, Sanzo-chan. I do believe we're gettin' spied on."

Sanzo shot his elbow up and back to force Gojyo away. "Tell somebody who doesn't know." He looked up. "Hey! Who the hell is up there?"

"Hee hee hee!" came back a voice. "How convenient there's only two of you." The origins of the voice was soon apparent as there were a large number of youkai standing up in the trees. "We'll send you off to hell smiling, Genjyo Sanzo and Sha Gojyo!"

"Gyumaoh's assassins," muttered Gojyo. "Hot _damn_, do these guys have bad timing."

"And thus it is proven, Gojyo—_You_ are a _curse_," Sanzo said, not at all amused with the current predicament.

* * *

Magician's Gambit is book three in the series 'Belgariad' by David Eddings. The series is about young Garion and his adventure with his beautiful aunt, the legendary Sorceress Polgara, and her even more legendary father, Belgarath. The three of them along with others set out to retrieve an artifact with a lot of power within it from a thief who wishes to revive a dark god.

* * *

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 6: Chapter 36: Wish

Volume 7: Chapter 37: Out of Gear

Volume 7: Chapter 38: Branches

* * *

Please review. I swear I get giddy every single time I get one and I always eagerly anticipate the next. And I love all my reviewers! 


	17. XVI: A Night to Remember

Disclaimer: The lawyer has claimed that this is merely a work of entertainment and is not being used to gain anything. I always knew lawyers were liars. I'm getting all sorts of fuzzy feelings and entertainment out of making this fan fiction! However, he was partially right. I don't own Saiyuki. Maybe someone should give it to me as a belated birthday present?

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Reviews: 

DustBunnyQueen, I'm afraid Ana isn't that whacky. But there will be interesting scenes! I promise! Unfortunately, we first have to see the cutie Kinkaku die. Sniff.

SakuraEmma29, or should I say Corrina? Kami-sama is a pretty cool guy save for the fact that Ni fucked him over (pardon my French). Thank you for the compliment and I'm trying my damnedest to get this all out and have everyone hungering for more!

White Fire Alchemist, Gojyo's going to naturally continue teasing the two. He's just that kind of guy. And I enjoy torturing him because he's so fun to mess with. Him and Hakkai and Sanzo. All broody-meisters. XD

Silver-eyed, me neither, but at least they're trying to make sure we're not hacked by computers or something! And as I said to WFA just above, he will be teasing. Why wouldn't he? He's Gojyo for crying out loud!

Nami, Sanzo's not dead. Gojyo is. Especially if he keeps waving it in Sanzo's face.

Killa, oh, yes. Definitely not. I've been a surly little girl lately and normally... I don't PMS. Sorry. TMFI.

Maryu-chan, I'm following manga events rather than anime (anime version of Saiyuki is my most hated anime series). And yes, Kenyuu/Ukoku Sanzo/Ni Jienyi definitely thought he was a girl when he first laid eyes on him. And I'm glad you enjoy this so much.

Jaganshi Mori, no problem. If you need a quick link, look at my profile page under favorite stories. 'A Different Life' is there.

Estriel, I was choosing the Eddings books for the titles more than the contents. Though now that I think about it... there are parallels... just vague, but there.

PhantomoftheBasket, I'll still try to look over your story and see how it changes and evolves. My own story started out rocky. It still gets that way sometimes. There are parts in this chapter (or the next, I'm not sure) that I'm not entirely happy with but have given up on. And unfortunately, this chapter won't be as funny as the last... save for when the trio in the gourd come back and wake up.

Bluestocking, Sanzo's the kind that keeps eluding me. He's coming down, believe it or not. The others have it easier than him when it comes to admitting they care. Sanzo's been psychologically damaged. He was abandoned in a river. The monks continuously harassed him about how he should be in diapers still since he was so young and they were jealous that Koumyou Sanzo favored Kouryuu. He watched his Master die before him. He was then scorned by the monks, saying he was the one that had stolen the other scripture and had hidden it in his room or something. Add on top of that when he proved his worth to hold the sutra, the monks had a very deep-seated resentment towards him. He left the temple and was forced to kill someone for the very first time. Went on a continuous downward spiral (he was at one point capable of putting his gun to his head) and then watched the final person he had come to care about die in his name... an old priest trying to protect him from the youkai that were after him. He's sweet inside (you can tell by the number of little actions he does), but he's scared and holding those around him at arm's length is the only way he feels he can survive. So it's hard to work Ana under his skin in a realistic manner. But she's there now and now she's got to get past the ice walls around his heart and burrow deep in there. Don't worry, she'll bring out the nice Sanzo... eventually.

DaydreamerMagby, yes, I did that, but hey... it got a fire lit under Sanzo's ass, now didn't it? I had chosen a long, long time ago to make Sanzo worry about her more in this fashion. Besides, why not send her to 'hell' for a while? It's funny! And yep, Gojyo knows.

Shadowluzid, yep. Sanzo's got plenty of bullets... but will they be enough to frighten Gojyo into silence? Or will he have enough to permanently silence the kappa? Well, don't worry. I won't kill Gojyo. I'll just have Ana and Sanzo get mad at him.

A Reviewer, Gojyo's gonna tease. What else? But he's at least smart enough not to tease right now. To many important things to do. Kami-sama arc... it's a hard one to write. I'm kinda at a stuck point on my computer. See me wince. Oooch... Interesting you brought up 'Saiyuki Self-Insert'. I knew the people who wrote it. I kept trying to tell Mei to tone it down on her character. Being overpowered is not good without some psychological hell. Depravity was harsh to write. I really don't want to do that again.

Sanzo4ever, thanks for all the reviews from the past three chapters! I appreciate all of them! And congrats on the account! Thumbs up to the future!

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AS A SIDE NOTE: Last week I turned a grand twenty-two! Now I have discovered the greatness of Silver Patron Margaritas! Oooh... I want another. Shame I have to work today... Pout.

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Chapter XVI: A Night to Remember 

"We'll let you two die a happy pair!" the youkai said gleefully. "Genjyo Sanzo and Sha Gojyo!"

'_Would they shut up already?'_ thought Sanzo as the two of them watched their opponents.

"And, hey," said the loudmouth. "We've brought along twice as many as usual today. With only two of you here, this'll be candy from a baby!"

"I think they're forgetting that group we took care of a few towns ago. Man, today _sucks_ for Scorpios. My horoscope probably says not to leave the house. It's gotta," Gojyo said conversationally to Sanzo.

"How should I know? Besides, those idiots were probably unrelated to Gyumaoh. Damn. This is excessively annoying," Sanzo said in an almost conversational tone back.

"Sanzo…" Gojyo said in a slightly chiding manner. "'Excessively''s gotten old already."

Sanzo's violet eyes slid to look at Gojyo though the rest of the priest stayed fairly stationary. "And you have a better adverb in mind?" he asked blithely.

The youkai decided that it was apparently enough time for chit-chat and threw themselves down from the trees even as Gojyo's hand extended out to conjure up Shakujyo. "Yeah," Gojyo confirmed. "_Abrasively_ annoying!"

"…What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sanzo queried even as he drew out his gun.

Shakujyo appeared in Gojyo's hand as he smirked. "Let's just eat and run. We don't have time for cannon fodder!" With a shift of his hand, the crescent blade shot forth and dismembered a nice number of youkai, spilling blood and guts on the floor of the forest. Sanzo's own gun barked as he fired off shots, taking an opponent out with each bullet.

The youkai hadn't expected the fierceness of the two men from their extreme agitation from the loss of their friends and their own getting on each others nerves without barriers (namely Hakkai) to smooth things out. "Aagh!" "Gaaagh!"

Sanzo whipped his gun around to catch a youkai that was trying to sneak up on him. The butt of the gun caught him by the chin and sent the fool flying back. Now that the initial attack was beaten off, the two of them stood back to back to guard themselves a bit better. "…Hey," Sanzo said, gaining Gojyo's attention. "_You're_ the one with the bad luck. The rest of these are yours."

Gojyo decided to let a bit of sarcasm slip into his next words. "Gasp! Is the mighty Sanzo down already? You really are old." A second later… "Shit!" he yelped as he ducked the two shots fired from Sanzo's gun. All the youkai stared in disbelief. The Sanzo just… attacked his own friend? "God dammit!" snapped out Gojyo, straightening somewhat after he felt it was safer to do so. "Stop shooting at me, ya damn priest!"

"I'll shoot what's in the _way_, you filthy cockroach," Sanzo said 'calmly'. And soon, their 'discussion' was over and they turned back to the youkai, even angrier than before.

* * *

"C'mon—bring it!" Goku said, swinging his staff at the strange creatures, knocking them back.

"Ha!" gasped Hakkai as he drew his energy to the surface and then blasted some more back.

"What the hell?!" Ana said, her eyes wide after having shot off a bolt of lighting at the creatures. None of them looked overly-harmed by her attack, which was something she wasn't used to.

And what was worse was that more kept emerging from the ground.

"Dah!" yelped Goku. "They just keep coming!"

Hakkai gave a nervous smile. "We'd best avoid them if we don't want to join the desert's skeletal remains."

"Oh, lovely," drawled Ana.

"Why's everythin' tryin' to kill me when I'm already dead?!"

"We need a plan, Hakkai!" yipped Ana as another hand burst forth right near her feet.

"I agree," mused the youkai. "And I think that for now…"

"For now?" asked Goku. Hakkai turned and began to run away from the creatures, the two teens hot on his heels.

"We should run."

"Great idea!"

"Yeah!" The golden-eyed teen glanced up at Hakkai after they had easily outdistanced the shambling dark shapes. "But where are we runnin' to?"

"I don't quite know just yet. If Gojyo and Sanzo are indeed all right, they _should_ create an escape for us." He paused as he continued to run. "…Maybe…"

Ana, never one for running to begin with even though she was much more fit than she had ever been, panted. "That isn't very reassuring, Hakkai," she panted out as she managed to hop over a ribcage. "Are you tryin' to tell me that we might not leave this place if they can't figure out how to get us back?"

"Unfortunately… that's exactly what I'm trying to say."

* * *

"Hff... Haah… H-how… could you… _rrgh_!"

Sanzo stepped up behind the youkai that stared at the carnage of his cohorts left behind by the two of the Sanzo-ikkou currently not running around in a bone-strewn desert wherever said desert was.

"So, you're the last one of you idiots, are you?" Sanzo said dangerously, cocking his gun and aiming it right at the youkai's right ear to go through his brain once the trigger had been pulled. It earned him a startled incoherent yelp. The priest's eyes were hard as agates and glittered dangerously under the wash of the full moon. "That was ten minutes of my busy life I'm never getting back. It's gonna cost you," he spat out.

"You reeeally underestimated us, punker," Gojyo sneered. "I know you were all excited to see only two of us…" He paused to sling his blood bathed Shakujyo's clean end to rest on his shoulder as the demon blood dripped off the crescent blade. "…but we're more than enough to kick _your_ collective ass."

"Hn. You've no right to be smug," Sanzo said, snarkily. "I killed more than you did."

"Where do you get off sayin' _that_?!" Gojyo snarled, turning to glare at the Sanzo. "You shoot without moving! Firing that gun makes you lazy!"

"With you crashing about, I couldn't hear myself think." The youkai watched the two fight and realized that while they were distracted with each other, this would be the best time to…

"Sorry my goddamn_footsteps_ are loud! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

The youkai lunged forward, grabbed Sanzo's gun hand with one clawed fist, forcing the weapon up and away from hurting him. The blonde only managed a short mental _'Damn!'_ before the youkai tackled him, forcing him back away from Gojyo and towards a nearby precipice.

"Hya ha ha ha!" cackled the youkai. "_I'll take you with me if I have to_!"

"_Sanzo_!" screamed Gojyo as he whipped Shakujyo about to loose the chain while Sanzo and the martyr went over the cliff, the ground so very far below beneath them.

* * *

Goku twitched and looked up, scanning the sky as he slid to a stop.

"What's wrong, Goku?" asked Hakkai as he stopped as well. Ana skid to a halt just a bit beyond the two.

"…Nn," mumbled Goku. "I just, um… got a bad feelin'."

"A bad feeling?" asked Hakkai, Ana echoing him with a look of concern on their faces. "Do you think it relates to us?"

Ana's brow furrowed. Her anxiety was definitely there as she was in a perilous situation and they were separate from the others. And there was worry as she didn't know what was happening to the others. She finally found a darker emotion within her… something was making her feel dread and she hadn't noticed it until just now. She didn't voice it, but her heart hurt and not in the same way that it felt when she looked upon Sanzo and he seemed so very far away or the kind of hurt that comes from the pain of killing. It was different and she could almost feel it.

She caught the last bit of what Hakkai said… something about Sanzo and Gojyo.

"I dunno," admitted Goku, placing his hand over his heart and looking down at the ground. His face was twisted with anxiety. "But it's… it's _real_ bad, Hakkai."

"What's it for?" murmured Ana to herself, looking down at the ground.

"We gotta… we gotta get back. We gotta!" Goku said, snapping his head up to look at Hakkai. "Sanzo an' Gojyo might be in trouble!"

"Calm down, Goku. I know how you feel," Hakkai said, making a 'calm down' motion with one hand. He glanced at Ana who seemed to be in very deep thought as she stared down at the ground. He wondered what was wrong with her. He turned back to Goku. "But we still don't know what's going on here. We have to think things through before running on emotion."

"Oh… yeah," Goku said. He looked very ashamed as he ducked his head much like a kicked puppy. When Ana looked at him, she could almost see the flattened puppy ears on his head and a tucked tail. "Okay. Sorry…"

"Oh, no," assured Hakkai, laughing somewhat nervously as motioned for Goku not to worry. "_I'm_ sorry; I'm the one running off at the mouth."

She smiled at them. "Ha ha!" laughed Goku. "You're always so nice to me, Hakkai! I'm guess I'm glad you're with me if we've gotta be dead an' stuff."

Ana wrinkled her nose and tackled Goku lightly. "Oh? And what about me?" she demanded, her voice carrying a mock-angry note as she grinned at him. "Am I mean to you or something or does only Hakkai get the nicey-nice words?"

Goku hugged her around the middle tight as he grinned. "Yer nice to me, too, Ana-chan!" he told her as he lifted her slightly, making the girl erk with the sudden temporary loss of earth beneath her feet.

"Put me down! Or else I'll force you to carry me!"

"Okay! Okay!" yelped Goku, putting her back down and releasing her. He looked at the two of them. "This bein' dead thing is weird…" He snickered as he scratched at an itchy spot on the side of his nose.

"Goku…" murmured Hakkai, shaking his head in bemusement.

Any further sentiments were discarded as a low rumble filled the air and began to shake the earth beneath their feet. Or rather, it was the other way around and the earth trembled beneath their feet and the air shook from the tremors.

"H-hey!" Goku said, fighting to stay standing as was Ana and Hakkai.

"Oh, great! Being dead isn't enough! Now we've got to have earthquakes, too!" Ana said, not enjoying this trip through Hell.

Cracks ran like crazy across the earth, spidering out to be beneath their feet and all centering on one point some distance away.

"Wha?!" gasped Goku as he looked around. But mere moments later, the ground heaved upwards and burst forth. A gigantic creature clad all in black came out of the ground. It was as tall as a skyscraper and had a strange looking reddish eye on the front of its head with bulging veins surrounding the head to vanish around back behind the head. All three gazed up at the monster in horror.

"What the hell?!"

"What th' heck is_that_?"

"The boss character, it would seem."

"_This isn't a video game_!" shrilled Ana, her head pointed upwards at the thing as she gave it a wide-eyed, terrified look.

A huge fist slammed down near them, missing them only marginally and forcing them back. Ana had been saved the necessary energy to run away as Hakkai grabbed her around the middle and dragged her back as Goku spun out of the way as well. The monkey found a skull and grabbed it as the monster looked away, apparently searching for them.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Take this, ass face!" He pitched the skull at 'this', sending it flying at the creature. It missed, but the noise attracted the being and it looked at them. "Geh," said Goku as he cringed back. "That worked crappy."

Hakkai let Ana go and both stood up. "Similar to his friends in black spandex, direct attacks won't suffice. We'll have to stop him in one hit."

"What did I say about video games?" Ana demanded, giving Hakkai a harsh glare for his continued 'video game' analogies. "Drop the video game puns! Now!"

"I can't take that guy out in one hit!" Goku worried. "Can't ya use your chi powers on it?"

"What?!" Hakkai said, his voice actually going up a couple of octaves. "Please don't joke—he's far too big for that!"

"What about you, Ana?" asked Goku, turning to her. "You're really strong with your lighting, right?"

"Heck no! Those things earlier didn't even _sizzle_ when I electrocuted them! This thing's not going to be defeated by me!"

As Ana said this, Hakkai was rapidly processing. _'The Makai Tenjyo could probably succeed in one hit. But it's not appropriate to completely rely on Sanzo, either. There's still one possible… way…'_ He put out his arm, forcing the two teens back. "All right. Leave this one to me, you two. And please step back a bit."

"Huh?" asked Goku, not understanding.

"What are you gonna do?" asked Ana.

"If you stand too close… I might end up killing you," Hakkai told them as he braced himself, reaching for his ear cuffs… his power limiters, internally praying that wherever they were, the Minus Wave couldn't affect him. He'd really rather not kill his two young friends.

"Huh?!" both yelped at the same time as Hakkai pulled them free.

A moment later, Hakkai dropped the limiters, his face and body shifting ever so slightly. His ears swept up into sharp elfin points and his human nails sharpened into fierce claws. His hair grew longer to cover the nape of his neck and his body… Ana was mesmerized as vine-like patterns emerged on his skin, on his back and hands and neck and… face… For a brief moment, she saw his face as he glanced back to ensure their safety. A gold slitted eye… and a green familiar one framed by the monocle.

There was a deadly beauty about the mother hen of the group as he turned to look at the massive monster readying itself for an attack and launched himself towards the beast that threatened their afterlives.

* * *

Back on earth, Shakujyo's chain strained as Gojyo worked on dragging Sanzo up the cliff face. The chain bit into Sanzo's arm as he dangled with the youkai that had thrown him over the cliff clinging to his legs.

"Stupid… shit!" growled Gojyo as he strained at Shakujyo's chain. "God _dammit_!!" The edge of the cliff crumbled under the weight on Sanzo's end.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" cackled the youkai as he wiggled, trying to work Sanzo loose of the last thing holding him up. "Fall! _Fall_! C'mon and—" He broke off when the cool metal of the Smith & Wesson pressed to the top of his head.

"_Fall_," Sanzo said, his eyes flat and a cruel smile in place as he pulled the trigger with his free right hand.

"Hagck!" yelped the youkai, his final sound as he broke loose from Sanzo, sending the priest crashing into the cliff face as he fell away.

Up at the top of the cliff, Gojyo felt the sudden bouncing and strained harshly, his end of Shakujyo's looped chain around his left forearm bit deep from the sudden movements as he used his right to grab even more chain, binding it around his right hand and wrist. "Fuck!" he snarled to himself as he wished he could wipe the sweat out of his eyes, not liking this situation one bit.

The priest slammed a couple of times into the rocky escarpment face, the chain rattling around his wrist dangerously. Finally, he spun around and braced himself against the cliff, pain shooting through his arm and shoulder from the length of time he'd hung by the appendage.

"Hold _on_, you shit-for-brains moron!" Sanzo said in his most 'grateful' voice.

"Your fighting's making me lose my grip! Don't make me drop your holy ass!" Gojyo shouted down to him.

Now that they were more stable… and Sanzo was in a position to somewhat help, Gojyo hauled backwards and Sanzo half-walked up the face cliff.

Unfortunately, he slipped once, making them backtrack thirty centimeters but Gojyo hauled back again, grabbing another fistful of chain to wrap around his forearm. One more misstep… that is, just one really bad misstep… and it would be over for the both of them _and_ the trio waiting for them to save their lives.

It seemed like forever before Sanzo finally was able to reach the edge of the cliff and Gojyo made one final pull before they both were on solid ground. In reality, it was less than thirty minutes. Gojyo fell back, Shakujyo dissolving into nothingness, as Sanzo sat down hard, both of them too exhausted to do anything more than gasp for air for a few minutes.

"Damn…" Gojyo said between gasps, trying to joke some now that the fear was over and done with. "That… hah… sucked… lots…" His arm felt like it was on fire… he must have had really hurt it during their 'working together' time on that cliff face. But he was too tired at the moment to shift his head and look at the damage. Besides… he had sweat in his eyes.

"You're… telling… me," panted out Sanzo. The priest took a hand and tiredly wiped away the sheen of sweat dripping off his brow.

Now that they were getting their breath back enough to talk, Gojyo reached into a pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He stuck it between his teeth and then remembered that his cigarette lighter had been on the table when he had left the inn. Not really caring at this point, he left the cig be. "You're heavier than you look, Exalted One," he said.

"Screw you. I don't remember asking for your help, anyway," Sanzo bit out, pulling out his own cigarette.

"Weeell," drawled Gojyo. "Who cares if you asked me or not? I didn't do it for you,_sweetheart_."

"Yeah?" asked Sanzo as he lit his cig, ignoring the 'sweetheart' comment. "Then why?"

"I like pickin' things up when they fall."

"How hobo of you," Sanzo said, looking over at the kappa. He glimpsed the bruises and abrasions from Shakujyo's chain that had gotten very dark while they were talking.

"Ah… get bent. Never know if you pick up something worthwhile… and I think I did."

"…Hn…" grunted Sanzo, flicking the lighter open again and lighting Gojyo's cigarette. "Don't you proposition to me, moron."

"Bah. Wasn't talkin' 'bout you and me," Gojyo said, staring at the stars. "I mean I'm gonna enjoy the show when you and Ana get together." He grinned up at Sanzo, whose eyes had widened at Gojyo's blatant response. "By the way… thanks for the light, man. What now?"

Sanzo looked away, puffing at his cigarette for a moment. He lifted himself to his feet and turned to look down on Gojyo, who was looking up at him curiously. A sandaled foot came in contact with red hair in a sudden kick. "Now _up_, you damn kappa."

"Gah!" yelped Gojyo. He sat up, rubbing his head. "That _hurt_, you asshole! What's wrong with you?!"

"We don't have time for you to have a nap," the priest said, walking away. Glancing over his shoulder, hard violet eyes greeted the red-eyed man. "And we don't have time for a bunch of slacking off after a bit of hard work. What you need is more manual labor like _that_."

"…Heh…" smirked Gojyo as he stood and moved to walk alongside Sanzo. Clasping his hands behind his head, he said, "I don't see why Ana likes you so much… you aren't even the tiniest bit adorable."

Sanzo growled. "Get those stupid thoughts out of your head, kappa. Or else I'll—" He was cut off by a faint sound and turned just in time to see the strange vines that had come from the gourd wrap around his forearm and twined around his body to lift him up in the air so fast he lost a sandal. It was also fast enough for Gojyo to not quite realize what happened until after he had been suspended in the air.

"San…!"

"Why did you come here?" asked a voice that the two immediately identified as Kinkaku's. Gojyo turned in wide-eyed shock as Sanzo growled low in his throat. "Why, mister?" asked Kikaku.

"Kin…kaku?" he breathed.

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you're a bad person, too," Kinkaku said, his eyes sad.

"…You…" breathed Gojyo, trying to gather his thoughts up into one.

* * *

Guts squished under Hakkai's foot as he re-clipped his power limiters to his ear, his face, hands, and clothing spattered with blood. "Phew…" sighed the youkai. "That settles that."

Both Ana and Goku were staring at him, feeling very, very shocked by what they had just seen. Ana had fallen to her knees and hands and Goku had fallen on his butt. _'That was…'_ thought Ana. _'Who'd've thought Hakkai could do _that_?'_

'_Makes ya not wanna piss him off…'_ thought Goku.

As the youkai looked around as he worked out his shoulder, he said in his usual tone of voice, "Oh, my… Perhaps I took it a trifle overboard."

The two teens looked at one another slowly. _'That was scary,'_ mouthed Ana. Goku nodded numbly. Ana was right… Hakkai _was_ scary.

Hakkai looked at them and blinked. "Are you two hurt?" he asked.

"We're… fine…" squeaked Ana as she got to her feet, instinctively brushing the dirt off her pant legs and hands. Goku stood as well, but didn't dust himself off. He looked at the carnage and blinked. Hakkai had really done a number on that bad guy.

"Hey, Hakkai?" he asked.

"Yes, Goku?" asked the youkai, blinking in an almost innocent manner.

Ana gave him a still slightly stunned look. "I think we like the regular Hakkai better…" she said faintly.

"Yeah… What she said…"

Hakkai gave them an almost hurt look as he shook off his hands as best as he could and wiped the blood off of his face with his sleeve. "Well… I would have thought that after we defeated the boss, something would happen."

"Jesus Christ Almighty, Hakkai!" swore Ana. "I told you twice to drop the damn video game jokes!"

Hakkai blinked at her and blushed abashedly. "Well, it was an appropriate analogy, I thought."

"I'm glad you think so, but now that we're _done_ with them," she drawled, "I get to ask a question: What now?"

"Grr! Really!" burst out Goku, recovering from his scare from Hakkai's devastation to the black-clad creature. "This place is so stupid! If we're in hell, there should be King Enma or somethin'! Why can't somebody get out here and tell us something?!"

A sudden light came down from above and they looked up in shock.

"What the? What is it_this _time?" bemoaned Ana, not looking forward to this. A moment later, a figure appeared high up. It was a small figure and as it descended, it became clear that the person was a young boy dressed like the boy that had attacked them. Not only that… the boy looked very much like the one that had indeed attacked them.

"Woah…" breathed Goku, accurately summing up the entrance.

"Is that…?" wondered Hakkai, fearing that this child was… the one that had put them here. He landed softly on the ground, his feet making a light tap as they settled upon the earth.

"Wait a second…" murmured Ana, her eyes wide as she tallied the face of this one with the other that had sent them here. They matched… save for two distinct things…

"You little creep!" Goku said, attempting to lunge forward to pummel the boy. "You killed us! You--!"

"Wait, Goku," Hakkai said, blocking Goku's progress forward almost immediately. Ana faintly noted that Hakkai also saw the difference.

"You weren't the one who sent us here, were you?" Ana asked. Goku looked at them both in confusion. "Your hair is silver and the mark on your forehead is different. The boy remained silent for a moment.

"Yes… I wasn't the one who sent you here. That was my twin, Kinkaku. I am Ginkaku."

"Twin?" asked Goku, curiously, but Ginkaku went on.

"And you aren't dead. This place you are in… that _we_ are in… is the world inside the gourd."

"Are you saying we're in an alternate dimension?" asked Hakkai.

He nodded. "More precisely, your souls are sealed within this dimension. Your bodies are elsewhere."

"We're alive?!" chirruped Goku, immediately excited as he looked at Hakkai. Ana looked similarly delighted. "Yes! Lets' go home!" However, Hakkai's face remained somber.

"Wait… why are you here? Who on earth are you?" he asked.

For a moment, Ginkaku remained silent before he spoke again. "I… need a favor from you. Please…" He looked up with pleading eyes. "Save my brother…"

Ana looked at him in shock. "But… don't you want to leave this place?" she asked. "To save your brother with us?"

Ginkaku's eyes were very, very sad as they turned to her. "I suppose you should know some of my brother's and my past. My brother and I are youkai. Our childhood was happy… and we were a part of a loving family. But… one day, every youkai in the village along with our parents went berserk and forgot who they were."

"You're talking about the Minus Wave," Hakkai realized. Ana looked at him. Something about that was familiar. She thought she remembered it… from those books she read. "It seems that strong-willed youkai, undeveloped children, and partial youkai such as ourselves… weren't affected by it," he mused.

"Wait, you're saying they got jipped a family because of some stupid wave?!" choked out Ana, a shaking index finger pointed at Ginkaku as she stared at Hakkai. "What the fu—" A quick glance at the pre-teen made her reconsider the word she was about to use. "—dge is wrong with this world and what Fate did the youkai population screw over anally to get this treatment?!"

Ginkaku blinked, surprised by her vehemence as were Hakkai and Goku. "Ahem…" Hakkai said, turning to Ginkaku… "Would you please go on?"

"Ehrm… yes…" Ginkaku stared at Ana for a minute longer as her own gaze shifted back to him. "We couldn't stay in the village after that, so my brother and I ran away alone. But we failed. We got lost in the forest we ran to. And we couldn't continue because we were hungry and tired." At this point he focused on his feet, the retelling very difficult for him. "But then… he appeared. We thought he was god. We thought Kami-sama had found us. Had _saved_ us."

"Kami-sama?" asked Goku, his interest peaked.

"Yes… He had shining gold hair and pretty white clothes. Since we were so dizzy, he looked just like god. He took us to his castle and cared for us there. He gave us anything we wanted and because he never gave us a name, we continued to call him 'Kami-sama'. After a while I got scared. I didn't know why, but I did. I got scared of 'God'. He smiled so beautifully, he seemed to have no soul. And then… I suggested we run away. Leave Kami-sama. However, my brother loved Kami-sama with all his heart and was blinded by the strange things that I noticed from our… caretaker. He was innocent like that." He broke off for a moment, organizing his thoughts. "Kami-sama found out and used some kind of magic to convince my brother that I transformed into a monster right before his eyes. And he said it was because I had been bad. My brother panicked and begged Kami-sama to tell him how to 'change' me back and what Kami-sama told him in response was to do a lot of good things… He told my brother… to kill everyone that was bad."

"Wha?!" yelped Goku. "Ya can't do that!"

"That guy's completely gone 'round the twist," muttered Ana, wishing it had been in English so she could do a fake-British accent as she folded her arms across her chest.

"My brother's been brainwashed," Ginkaku told them firmly. "He's only trying to help me."

"But this sounds like the story of 'Hansel and Gretel'."

"Huh? The one with the candy house?" asked Goku, glancing at Hakkai who had said the fable's name.

"Leave it to you to categorize faerie tales by food group," muttered Ana. She glanced at Hakkai. "And I had no idea German faerie tales got out _this_ far."

Hakkai grinned a humorless smile at her that almost seemed amused. "Why save the best for Europe, no?" She shrugged.

"Hated that story. Hansel and Gretel's mean stepmom told their father to cast them out of the house and he did 'cuz he's weak. First time, they managed to come back using white stones, but the second – or was it third? – time, they got lost because they used breadcrumbs and the animals ate them up. They wandered the forest and found a house of candy and the witch caught them eating at it. Hansel was pitched in a cage and Gretel worked her butt off to try and save him from the cruel witch. But the witch had a better idea… she liked the taste of kiddies and wanted to eat them both…"

"Bleck," spat Goku, not liking the sound of that.

"As I said, I didn't like it," Ana said dryly. "Fairly standard fable to scare the crap out of a naughty kid and get 'm to behave. Be bad and mummy dearest'll feed yer ass to a witch." Her attention shifted to Ginkaku. "And during all of this, you've yet to tell us exactly_why_ you've not mentioned anything about joining us in saving your brother. Don't you want to help us?"

* * *

In the real world… a small white creature watched over three motionless forms before craning its head back and giving out a mournful cry...

* * *

"You…" breathed Gojyo, recovering from his shock as Sanzo dangled still from the vines. "You little piece of…" Anger overcame the kappa and he bit out angry words. "What the hell are you trying to do?! Stop fooling around or you're gonna get hurt!"

"Stay back!" warned the boy, a slightly panicked tone to his voice. An additional tentacle shot out and wrapped around Sanzo's throat and tightened, gaining a gagging sound from the priest as his eyes widened in horror and pain.

"Sanzo!" shouted Gojyo in panic, turning as he froze up.

"See?" said Kinkaku, his voice smug as a certifiable smirk crossed over his face. "The bad man's gonna die."

"I went easier on you earlier, 'cause you're a kid. Don't you dare push your luck, pixie! I've had it playing games!" snarled Gojyo as he summoned Shakujyo. He flicked his wrist and sent the blade careening towards the vines to cut them. "You should know what I can do to you!"

But his victory cry was canceled as yet _another_ tentacle shot out from the gourd and captured the crescent blade, much to the two remaining Ikkou member's shock. "Wha?" strangled out Gojyo, his pupils constricting as a dawning fear encroached on his heart.

"Don't bother," Kinkaku said. There was a slight note of worry to his voice, easily missed due to the commotion. "You can't beat me. Kami-sama gave this to me."

"Y-you're out of your mind," Gojyo said, his voice cracking in his shock and fear. "You've gotta be if you think that thing came from God? Talk about a psycho-sick cult, kid!"

Words of such nature seemed like slander against Kinkaku's 'God' and Kinkaku wouldn't hear of it. "That's not true!" he shouted. "Kami-sama really _is_ God! He has to be!" His faith in the so-called 'God' depended on it. He had to save his brother… "I just wanna help Ginkaku! I've gotta save my brother!"

* * *

Goku focused on the new direction of the words. "As I said, my brother is doing what he believes is right," Ginkaku said, his voice wavering as he trained his eyes on his feet.

"Doesn't he have a brain?!" burst out Goku, clenching a fist. "He's goin' around_murderin'_ people! He's crazy to believe that nutbar!"

Hakkai shifted his footing and folded his arms over his chest. "Think about it, Goku. Everyone in this world needs something to believe in. Don't you… both of you…" He glanced at Ana, her own face having been knotted by anger at the idea of Kinkaku murdering. "…have something to believe in yourselves?" Both teens looked up, brought up short instantly as both their minds flickered to those they loved and cared for.

Goku immediately envisioned Sanzo, Ana, Hakkai, and Gojyo. The four most important people in his life, Sanzo especially. Yes, he understood.

Ana saw her mom and dad, her brother… and her friends. Her long-time friend, Jacob. Hakkai, Goku, Gojyo, and Hakuryuu, more recent but still just as dear. And the person that pulled at her heartstrings… Sanzo… She, too, understood.

* * *

"If you'll die, Ginkaku will change back!" Kinkaku was yelling, trying to desperately re-affirm the trust in God that Gojyo had efficiently shaken. "Kami-sama said he would!"

Sanzo took another shot at the pillar of Kinkaku's trust in the unidentified pretend god. "Snap out of whatever reverie you're in," he said, freezing Kinkaku's words with his commanding baritone voice. He might have been hanging in a precarious position and in danger of losing his soul… but he had to straighten this kid out _before_ someone else lost their soul. Probably him. "Listen to me, snot-nose," he said, his violet eyes opening to lock him with a piercing gaze, flat with his annoyance. "What do you really believe in? That guy you called 'God'? And here I was thinking you believed in your brother and yourself." Kinkaku gasped. "Tell me exactly when your brother asked _you_ to be a murderer."

An earthquake of questioning shook at that foundation and Kinkaku screamed out, "_Shut up_!" The vines whipped Sanzo around, Kinkaku fully wishing to slam the priest senseless against a tree. Gojyo threw himself behind Sanzo with a muttered swear word and the both of them hit the tree harshly, Sanzo actually getting a softer collision due to Gojyo's body.

"Gah!" gasped Gojyo, the air escaping his lungs.

"Gojyo!" yelped Sanzo in a rare display of worry, worried that the kappa had been injured seriously. He _had_ after all, hit him pretty hard.

Gojyo hacked for a moment, regaining his breath. "H-hell…" he muttered. "I'm not into guys on top of me."

"Stuff it, wise ass! Get my damn gun!" Gojyo's hand went to the side of Sanzo's torso. "Not there, dammit! In the sleeve!"

"Fuckin' sorry!" Gojyo said, finding the weapon and pulling it free of cloth. He aimed it with the intention of _not_ hitting Kinkaku. He fired two shots off at the ground near Kinkaku's feet, forcing the golden-haired boy back with a flinch and an involuntary cry. A second later, he dropped the gourd in an effort to shield his ears from the very loud sound.

"No!" yelped the boy, too scared to move just yet to try and retrieve it.

"We have to get that gourd," rapped out Sanzo. "It might be the key to saving the oth—"

The priest had been cut off by another gunshot… And to their horror… the gourd shattered into a myriad of tiny pieces.

"…Oops…" squeaked out Gojyo, knowing full and well that he… if not all of them… was in some fairly serious shit.

* * *

"…Um… I'm gettin' a bad feelin' again," muttered Goku.

"The others?" asked Hakkai.

"I dunno… maybe," came the chimp's uncertain voice.

It was at that moment, the sky seemed to open and they looked up in shock. "Is that the way out of here?!" yipped Ana.

"It is," assured Ginkaku, suddenly looking very sad indeed. "You'd better go."

"Wait!" Goku turned. "What about you?! You can go back with us!"

Kinkaku's brother smiled in a heart breaking manner. "I can't… you see… My body's already dead. So I can't return. But you'd better go."

The child was surprised by Ana, who hugged him fiercely with tears streaming down her face. "Take care, Ginkaku… We'll try to save your brother from that god-wannabe… if he's willing to listen to reason."

"Thank you," he said to her, relishing the hug of an older woman that was filled with warmth. He hadn't been hugged like that since his mother died. But now wasn't the time to linger and he pushed her away. His smile was a little brighter as she backed up. "Take care. And thank you."

With that, the three people left this strange dimension and…

* * *

…Awareness struck Goku suddenly and he bolted upright. A moment later he was yelping out a series of 'ow's for his body didn't seem to appreciate the movement too much as Ana's and Hakkai's eyes slid open. Ana moaned and curled into a little ball as Hakkai slowly sat up, clutching at his spinning head and topsy-turvy stomach.

"…I think… we're back," he said.

"Why in the _hell_ did I take a vacation from my body when I'm on my period?" bemoaned Ana as she uncurled, rolled off the bed, and started stumbling towards the adjoining bathroom, pain in her arms, legs, and back… as she stretched muscles that had started to stiffen up during her 'nap'.

Hakkai's nausea was rapidly disappearing but didn't even think to blush when Ana's mouth got to her thoughts faster than the rest of her brain. Unnoticed by the lot of them, Hakuryuu was looking back and forth between them, relief on his tiny little face as he cheeped in an equally relieved manner.

"Hakkai!" yelped Goku, turning to his unwitting-at-the-time-he-had-been-put-there bedmate. "I can barely move!" he whined.

Ana vanished behind the door of the bathroom to take care of certain… _needs_.

"Oh, that," Hakkai said, a sadistic sense of humor coming out to play as he forced muscles to strain and joints to pop ominously as he almost did a zombie positioning of his hands. "It must be rigor mortis."

"Gyaaah!" erked out Goku, not at all liking the joke.

"Leave the post mortem humor to the guys who cut up the bodies!" Ana strangled out from behind the thin wall.

Hakkai visibly pouted at the wall Ana was behind for a moment. "Oh, well. I suppose there's to be no video game puns _or_ graveyard humor, hm?"

"Not funny, Hakkai," Goku said as he started flexing muscles to get back some of their dexterity.

"Hm… Goku, do you remember what happened?" Hakkai asked, suddenly business again.

"Yeah… It wasn't a dream was it?" Ana stepped out of the bathroom. "Do ya remember, Ana-chan?"

"The thing with Ginkaku?" she questioned, confirming that she did indeed remember it.

"Not to mention all that 'Kami-sama' business," Hakkai said, very somber. "If it_had_ been a dream… we all wouldn't have shared it."

"Unless we were psychic or something, but that's not likely," Ana said before yipping as Hakuryuu dive bombed her now that they were feeling better. A moment later the dragon was ensconced on her shoulder, chattering happily in his little voice as he rubbed his head against her jaw line. "Oh, heya Jeep," she said with a smile, rubbing at the place where his slender neck met his tiny body.

Hakkai stood and placed his hands on his hips. "Now that we're all good, we'd better get going. We have some juvenile delinquents to apprehend."

"Awright!" Goku said, eager to help out. The three of them darted from the room, Hakuryuu clinging to Ana's shoulder as they made their way outside.

* * *

Back with Gojyo, Sanzo, and Kinkaku, a still moment swept over the clearing. Kinkaku knelt by the remains of the gourd that had shattered, his eyes wide with fear and his body trembling ever so slightly. However, the men weren't interested in what Kinkaku was doing for Sanzo rounded on Gojyo.

"You shit-for-brains kappa!" snarled the priest. "What the hell do you think we came here for?! The monster?!"

"Shut the fuck up!" snapped out Gojyo. "Maybe I just saved the others, huh? Think about it! I coulda just kicked ass!"

Sanzo glared at him. "And maybe you killed them, you stupid sonovabitch!" He glanced at the gun still in Gojyo's hand and promptly snatched it out of his hand. "And give me back my gun. I don't want your _sheer stupidity_ getting on it."

"What the hell?! You were the one who _asked_ me to take it!"

A frightened voice came through their argument and effectively ended it. "…What'll I do?" the terrified youkai child said to himself, heedless of the fact his higher pitched voice carried better than either Sanzo's or Gojyo's. "It's b-broken! Oh, no… Kami-sama gave it to me! He's gonna get real mad…" The poor boy's eyes burned with unshed tears.

Gojyo walked closer, sensing the argument between him and Sanzo was over for the time being. "Hey, kid," he said, drawing Kinkaku's face to look upwards at the one who called for him. "You look like you're gonna piss your pants. What're you so afraid of?" he asked, mentally gritting his teeth. _'I can't stand that heart-broken look,'_ he thought to himself. "That Kami-sama guy? Lemme take a wild guess and say you don't want to doubt him… you don't want to get left behind."

"N-no…" he murmured, surprised how close to the mark this man was. But he had to steel himself. He couldn't listen to the evil man! He was…! He was…! "You're wrong!" he said, though he didn't quite believe it. "You're wrong and Kami-sama's right. Kami-sama's right!"

'_It always reminds me… of someone long ago.'_ Gojyo continued to watch the boy with intense yet sad eyes. _'I was scared of her. But I believed in her—I _relied_ on her… I did whatever I could just to get her to love me. But she didn't… and probably couldn't… I was such an idiot.'_

There was a sharp crunch of dead leaves and a branch behind them, both remaining ikkou members eyes widening in shock as they beheld the monster known as 'Ginkaku'.

The element of surprise for the monster was gone and it lunged forward to slam Sanzo with a powerful punch, but missed and hit the ground instead. The fist made a sizeable dent in the earth, sending fragments flying.

"Fuck!" yelped Gojyo as a clod of dirt flew past his ear.

"Ginkaku!" cried out Kinkaku at the sight of his 'brother'. The beast roared his mouth dripping spit from tongue and fangs.

"Damn," spat Sanzo as Gojyo conjured his weapon.

"Well, shit," Gojyo said conversationally. "I forgot about _that_ puppy." This time the monster lunged for him and a fragment of memory hit Gojyo at the most inopportune moment. _"I have a little brother. We're twins, and we're very close."_

Fuck.

The monster slammed him down face first into the ground, clutching at his head with a massive clawed hand. "C-crud…" he managed as he strained under the grip. "Nngh!"

"Oi! What's wrong with you?" Sanzo said as he whipped out his gun. "Are you trying to get killed?!" A small hand stopped him from aiming at the beast. "What?!" he snarled at the boy, who looked quite frightened. "I'm not gonna say this more than once, kid. Move it or get shot!"

"I won't let you hurt him!" Kinkaku said, trying to force the gun down the rest of the way.

"G-great," muttered Gojyo as he firmed his grip on Shakujyo. "We can't kill this thing? Grr… This pulling punches garbage is a pain in the ass!" he shouted as he whipped the blunter end of Shakujyo up to knock away the beast, it giving out a strangled roar of shock. It lifted it's claws away from Gojyo and up to it's face as it yowled in pain. Gojyo had managed a lucky shot and had gotten his eyes.

The beast collapsed. "Ginkaku!" cried out the golden-haired youkai as he ran over to defend the downed creature. Kneeling down in front of it, he threw his hands out in a protective gesture. "Please, mister! Don't kill my brother! He's not bad! And I'll do anything! Even die! Just don't hurt him anymore! Please!" he cried out to Gojyo, unknowingly pulling darker memories to the surface of the black pool of memories within Gojyo's mind.

"_She's not…"_

Reassurances…

"_Mom's not bad, really."_

Reassurances to himself…

"_It's my fault."_

Reassurances to make him feel better…

"_If I hadn't been born…"_

Reassurances murmured within his mind as she…

"…_She wouldn't be like this."_

…As she raised that axe high in the air to…

"_If I just died…"_

…To bring down on him.

"Tch." Gojyo hated this shit. He reached out a hand to Kinaku. _'Why do kids always get so attached to a single person in this goddamn world?'_ The boy flinched back, thinking Gojyo was going to hurt him.

However, his hand touched on the top of his head in a reassuring manner. Kinkaku's eyes snapped open in surprise. Gojyo crouched down in front of Kinkaku, making him look up in surprise. Sanzo just watched, knowing that Gojyo was enough to fix this. "You're such a little sap," he said. "Nothing good will come of killing you."

"Mister…?" asked the boy, wariness in his eyes.

"You're just trying to save your little bother, right? We're kinda like that," smiled Gojyo. "We just wanna get our friends back."

"But, Mister, didn't you say they were bad?"

Gojyo actually barked out a laugh at that as he withdrew his hand. "Yeah, they _suck_ pretty bad," he smirked. "If we're talkin' good versus evil, they're way closer to evil… 'Cept Ana. She's just a brat. And they're annoying as hell—there's no denying that." He grew somber. "The thing is… that's not all there is to life. Good and evil. It's way too simple, y'know?" At Kinkaku's confused look, Gojyo smiled slightly. "Don't worry. You'll get it someday." He had to stand. His legs were beginning to cramp up. So he did. "And in the meantime… don't throw your life away. That'd be a darn waste."

"Mister…" murmured Kinkaku. Behind him the beast stirred. "Ginkaku!" he said in relief as he turned. "It's okay! These people aren't ba—!" Relief was short lived as the monster swiped out with one long arm and sent Kinkaku flying off to one side, Gojyo shouting out the boy's name in horror. He landed some distance away and the monster was already moving at the nearest of the two opponents, Gojyo.

"Move, Gojyo!" barked out Sanzo, ready to fire his gun.

But neither got a chance to attack for out of no where came a monkey with a stick in hand. The golden-eyed chimp caught the monster with the tip of his staff right under the chin. As the monster hit the ground, Goku landed gracefully and turned with a wide smile to look at his friends. "Heh heh!" he chuckled. "Thanks for waitin' for me!"

Both men were stunned, Sanzo only able to work out a shocked "Goku" at his appearance. Behind them Jeep came to a halt, Ana already touching down on the ground before it even completely slowed. "Are you two all right?" asked Hakkai. Ana's eyes roved their forms and discovered that… for the most part… they seemed fine.

"You took the words right outta my mouth!" Gojyo said, turning to look at the other two of their party.

Ana smirked. "It isn't our fault we played dead," she drawled as Hakkai chuckled a bit nervously.

"You said no post mortem humor, Ana-dono," he chided.

"I'm hungry!" whined Goku. "When are we gonna eat?!"

"_You_ don't get to because it's creepy as hell," she shot back at the youkai.

Sanzo, on the other hand, felt a huge amount of relief at the mere sight of Ana and for a moment, he didn't want his eyes to leave her. And he wanted to make sure she stayed close at hand so he wouldn't lose her again. He squashed those feelings for at least the time being. Luckily so, for Gojyo decided at that instant to turn and give him a cocky-ass grin and a thumbs up.

"Y'see, Mr. Negative? All's well," he jeered.

"Moron. Don't get cocky," he sneered back, turning away.

Hakkai, at that point, turned the conversation to seriousness. "Listen, Kinkaku," he said, his voice drawing all ears to his voice, though Goku and Ana knew what he was going to say. As such, they remained focused on the downed monster in case of surprise attacks from it. "I hate to be the one to tell you this…" The youkai steeled his courage, Kinkaku's eyes not at the moment looking at Hakkai but at his 'brother'. "…But that creature you have been traveling with is not your brother."

Kinkaku's head whipped around as he muttered a single sound and his eyes widened perceptibly. "Huh?"

As was his habit when he was uncomfortable doing something, Hakkai's left hand grasped his right elbow, Goku and Ana watching and listening with incredible seriousness. "I'm guessing it was an illusion that convinced you Ginkaku transformed. That man you call 'Kami-sama' was likely behind it."

"B-but why?" Kinkaku said, his voice becoming higher pitched as fear burbled up in him. His face had split into a disbelieving grin "Why would he… No… You're lying!"

"I wish we were, kiddo," Ana said quietly, pulling Kinkaku's attention to her. "All our souls got stuck in another dimension thanks to your gourd… His soul was there, too, and we spoke to him about what was going on. Ginkaku… begged us to save you."

"Then where's my brother?" he shot out. "Where's Ginkaku?"

At this point, none of them could even meet this child's eyes. Ana bit her lip. Hakkai was the first to gather enough strength to look up at him. "…When the way back to earth appeared… we asked him to come with us to help you. However, he told us he couldn't because his physical body was already… dead."

The boy clutched his hands over his ears, as if it would block out the truth, and his horror-filled eyes streamed tears as he screamed out a single word: "_Nooooooo!_"

Suddenly there was a harsh rasp of something on something in the air and before anything could be done, blood flew out from the back of Kinkaku, his hands falling away from his ears, and the horror in his eyes was replaced with shock and pain as he fell back. Beads… were protruding from his midsection… A very, very long… strand of beads.

Kinkaku let out a small gasp as he hit the ground, blood pouring out from his mouth and his wound, the beads retracting as he fell…

And Gojyo… for a long moment… could do nothing more… than stare in shock…

* * *

A Night to Remember is a story of the last night of the R.M.S. Titanic on her maiden voyage. A very haunting, chilling tale with an included guest list in the back of the book to show you who died and who lived.

* * *

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED: 

Volume 7: Chapter 39: Critical Day

Volume 7: Chapter 40: Blind Faith

Volume 7: Chapter 41: Farewell (Partial)

* * *

Please give me reviews! I love them! I hunger for them! I love all criticisms and raves! I love all the people that push that purpley-blue button! And quite frankly... it inspires me to write more! 


	18. XVII: The King of the Murgos

**Disclaimer:** I didn't get Saiyuki copyrights for Christmas, so obviously I don't own it.

* * *

**Reviews:**

White Fire Alchemist, thanks so much for both the review and the birthday greeting!

Jesslynn's Vanity, I enjoy this arc as well, but you have no idea how hard it is to write! And Hakkai's not that scary in his true form. He's actually quite the cutie... Hakkai fan here, so 'scuse me. XD And didn't you know that the basis of this story is the two getting together? Sexual tension is very nice when it comes to chappies. Sanzo denying himself is what's half the fun!

Jaganshi Mori, I just have it under my favorites list... you don't have to read the profile if you don't want to. Oh, and this Christmas, my cousins drank (I did too, but they're under twenty one... one's fourteen) and we all got drunk off our asses. It was funny as hell.

Cathy-the reader or Neko-chan, I'm updating as a belated Christmas present!

PoisonedAngelous, thank you for finally reviewing! Now you're in the reviews section! Personally, I think that's the reason everyone reviews is because I give personalized responses back... XD Anyway... I like the 'Epiphany' song you told me about. I researched it and discovered that you are fairly correct. I've even downloaded it for my own enjoyment whenever! Google rocks, I tell you! Got it for free and everything with a bit of searching.

Silver-eyed, damn straight Gojyo's a softie when it comes to kiddies! And he's so cute when he's not hitting up a woman. For me, Hakkai was the easiest to like and the hardest to like was Gojyo... and as soon as I liked him, I discovered I liked most of the major baddies, too, sans three characters.

DustBunnyQueen, remember... Ana's not that strong personality wise when those around her are being shaken up and scared. She's not much of a leader unless she's damn sure she's right. And remember, I don't change too much because I believe certain things MUST happen, so there will be some predictability on how this entire thing goes. And I'm glad you enjoyed that part. My favorite part between them was when Gojyo was picking on Sanzo about Sanzo's crush on Ana.

PhantomoftheBasket, LOL! Your review made me smile, definitely. And here, I've done my job! Enjoy!

Killa, she doesn't get as much spotlight as I'm trying to keep her even with the others. She is the new addition but everything shouldn't revolve around her, you know? Ana should fit in and work with the team... not the team work around her and meet her needs only. And of course Sanzo's relieved to see Ana safe! He's crushing, remember?

SakuraEmma29, the bad guys are interesting fellows. I personally like (of the baddies) Chin Yisou the best. I think that if he hadn't been so focused on Hakkai, he'd've been a fairly great character to really get into.

DaydreamerMagby, oh yes. The good, the bad, and the fun... And I'm glad that you think it's getting better and better with every chapter. I try so very hard.

Nami, here's Kami-sama for you!

A Reviewer, exactly. I had to bring them back. And Hakkai doesn't actually like it, but he can't do anything about it because he knows he can't. And he'll jump Sanzo's ass later on about it, after a certain kappa deserts. Hope you enjoy the view. I wound up wanting popcorn when I was making it out!

Bluestocking, Silver Patron is a brand of tequila. Margaritas... I think you know about those. Alcohol... fun... Anyway, I'm glad that you can see a little into the psyche of Sanzo. And when I saw that Sanzo had been to the point of shooting himself... I was shocked myself. And you aren't going overboard with the reviews. I love them, good or bad. And you weren't flaming me at all. It was an opinion that I was interested in replying to and helping you understand some things about Sanzo. Ana has to literally fight her way into his heart to the point he can't resist her anymore. That is what is so difficult to do. And I might get Gojyo drunk, but even if he was, they think of each other as a strange brother-sister pair even though they aren't related at all (save for Gojyo's fraction of human blood). As for fanfictions, check my profile under my favorite stories. I promise there's some good ones there. I don't put all of them down, but the ones that are there are assuredly some of the best. Also, go ahead and review Depravity. I'll respond to it here when you've written it... whenever that is. I refuse to read it anymore due to the fact it makes me sick.

Mercury's Serenity, I'm glad you think Ana's real! I work so damn hard to make her that way. Hope you enjoy this chapter, too, if you read it! XD

**As a note**, I've been added to another C2 listing called "OC Stories that are Very Good". I'm so honored!

* * *

**Chapter XVII: The King of the Murgos**

Kinkaku let out a small gasp as he hit the ground, blood pouring out from his mouth and his wound, the beads retracting as he fell…

And Gojyo… for a long moment… could do nothing more… than stare in shock…

"Wh-what just…" murmured someone, though Ana couldn't tell who for all were focused on the small body of Kinkaku laying on the ground in his own blood. She knew she didn't say it though.

"Kinkaku!" shouted Gojyo, bolting forward to the fallen child and surprising the others. Goku started after him but skid to a stop a meter and a half away, unsure of what to do or how to help.

"Wh…" gasped out the golden haired child before strangling slightly on his own blood, the fluid staining his lips red. "Wh-why?..."

Gojyo knelt down next to his head, uncaring of the blood that was getting on his clothes. Ana moved forward, but was stopped by the sudden presence of Sanzo's iron-like grip on her wrist. She looked over her shoulder, but he wasn't gazing at her. He was paying attention to the surroundings.

"Don't talk, stupid! Save your strength!" The kappa grit his teeth and spat out, "Dammit, what just _happened_?!"

"Wh—" Kinkaku said, choking on the effort it took to speak… the searing pain in his abdomen. One childish hand reached up to the sky as if it had an answer. "Why… Kami-sama?"

Gojyo opened his mouth to tell Hakkai to get his ass over here to heal him but a voice that wasn't his filled the clearing. "'Why?'" asked an amused voice as the trees shuddered from a breeze. "Because I don't need you anymore."

The five looked behind them, where the voice originated, even as Kinkaku's arm fell to lay limp on the ground. His last breath… had left him. And sitting there, in the darkness barely visible, was a man. His hair was light brown and beads like the kind that had pierced Kinkaku. A strange mark seemed to mar the right half of his face. Whether it was bruise, burn, or birthmark was unknown to them. His smile seemed amused, like he was watching a puppet show that he knew all the tricks of but still watched because he enjoyed watching the little puppets twitch on stage.

But what riveted their attention first and foremost… were his clothes. They were the traditional robes of a Sanzo priest, despite the fact that where his scripture would have rested, beads were wrapped instead.

"Wha?" gasped Goku.

"Th-those robes!" Hakkai said with a shuddering breath. Gojyo's eyes were wide, his pupils constricting. "But that couldn't mean…" The youkai faltered.

"Aren't?" Ana said, looking between him and Sanzo, who's grip on her wrist had tightened ever so slightly. "Is he a Sanzo like you?" asked Ana of the blonde man.

"Ha ha!" laughed the strange man as he slipped off his perch on the branch he had been occupying and onto the ground. "Yeah and no, yeah and no." He stepped forward with a smile. "And you're a Sanzo, too, huh?" he queried, looking Sanzo over. His grin widened as he shifted forward, causing Ana to squeak in shock as his feet completely left the ground, leaving him to hover before Sanzo like some strangely solid ghost taunting the priest. "Sorry! I don't wanna be compared to you," he said in an almost sing-song tone. "It's just that I'm _waaaay_ stronger than you are.

Sanzo acted unimpressed. "…What's your point?" he asked flatly. An instant later, he whipped out his gun and fired off two shots, but the person vanished instantly, laughing. Everyone started, looking in the same general direction to see if they could spot him.

"I'm really, really sorry," chuckled the man, as they refocused on where he really was. Behind Sanzo, though the priest had yet to turn though his eyes widened in shock. Ana couldn't twist the way she would have to in order to see him fully, so she watched the freak with wide eyes over her shoulder. "Maybe nobody told you," tutted the strange fellow. "_You can't kill God_." His eyes momentarily glanced at her before looking at the grip Sanzo was subconsciously maintaining on her wrist. There, on his lips, lurked a strange smirk

"Ya crazy weirdo!" shouted Goku, whipping his staff up to beat the crap out of the man that called himself 'God', his gold eyes blazing furiously. "What th' heck's wrong with you?!"

"…Move, Goku," Gojyo said, his body radiating a cold fury.

"G-Gojyo?!" yipped Goku, turning. "But that guy's—" He cut himself off when he realized… Kinkaku was growing cold on the ground before Gojyo… And Gojyo looked pissed. Having heard Goku go quiet, the others looked to see… and they, too, felt anger.

"I want to know what the hell is so goddamn funny," the kappa said, his anger visible. His hand, trembling from anger, touched Kinkaku's quiet face gently, closing his blank eyes against the world. "What did you want the kids for?" he demanded of the phychotic puppeteer. "What would drive a sick son of a bitch like you…" He took a steadying breath. "…to pick up two naïve boys and turn them into murderers?"

Kami-sama blinked and then smiled slowly. Raising a finger to his lips, he said: "It's a se-cre-t…"

Wrong answer for him to say. Gojyo didn't even call upon Shakujyo, but it materialized instantly, crescent blade almost whizzing out before fully formed. The attack bit into flesh, but the sound of raining beads on the ground and against the closer people filled the air instead.

"What the?!" gasped Hakkai in shock. _'His body turned into beads!'_ "Was he an illusion?!" he managed to say, whipping around to see if Kami-sama had been casting from somewhere else.

"Jesus Christ Almighty!" swore Ana in English, still not free of Sanzo's grasp and not fighting it like she might have under normal circumstances. She flipped back to Chinese. "What is _with_ this freak?!"

Laughter from an unidentifiable place filled the air. Before they could pinpoint it, it faded into the distance of some quite unknown direction.

"Where'd that buttwipe go?!" growled Goku, looking around and wishing that the freak would show up again.

The beads that had remained after the shattered illusion were mocking to them, slowly beginning to catch the sunlight of the rising sun peeking over the mountains they had crossed some time ago. One bead rolled slightly and Gojyo slammed his fist into the ground, making it, and the other beads nearby bounce slightly and roll some more.

The kappa remained still for a long moment. Hakkai murmured Gojyo's name and Sanzo finally released Ana's wrist as they watched the mourning kappa.

Ana bit her lip and turned to the still parked Jeep. Sanzo's eyes followed her and were slightly bewildered when she pulled out a tarp that they sometimes used to keep rain out while camping and a shovel they used to dig out their fire pits.

She walked over to Gojyo and started laying out the tarp close to Kinkaku. Suddenly, Hakkai understood what she wanted. He went over to her and Gojyo watched as they straightened it out.

Goku came over to try and help, but he fidgeted, not knowing how. Sanzo simply stood back, not from a lack of emotion but rather a sense of respect. A sense of respect to Gojyo… And a sense of respect to the boy even though he had hurt them…

Hakkai and Ana looked sharply at Gojyo when he moved to pick up Kinkaku, surprised. The kappa lifted the small body up and gently laid it on the tarp, his expression stormy from what they could see.

Carefully, they tucked the tarp around Kinkaku's body, shielding his now-at-peace face from the world. They secured it as much as they could before Goku finally moved forward and picked up the spade. He lifted it up but Gojyo took it from him and walked a bit away from them, a tiny bit nearer to a tree, before slamming the spade blade-first into the ground. Ana's eyes burned from the tears she hadn't shed yet for it was a sad, sad thing to witness. Gojyo's pain… Kinkaku's death… it hurt. There was a soft rustle of fabric behind them and Hakkai turned just slightly to see Sanzo step up behind Ana, whose eyes were still glued to Gojyo's digging form.

The spade bit into a tree root and Gojyo lifted it up before slamming it back down into the root, fracturing it further. He stomped once and it completely severed, falling down into the hole he had made. An instant later, it was in the growing dirt clod pile he was creating a half-meter away. Sweat stood out on his brow as he attacked the ground, trying to figure out what he could do to ease the pain. Problem was… he was making himself ill from the exertion.

He took a moment to catch his breath and at that minute, Goku slipped around the barrier of Kinkaku's tarp-wrapped form and went to help him. Gojyo seemed like he was going to turn the young man away, but Goku took the shovel and continued to dig in lieu of Gojyo.

The kappa panted as he watched Goku make the hole longer, wider, deeper. It was slow going, stopping to cut tree roots or flip out chunks of wet, heavy dirt.

Ana turned to walk back to the jeep to get a bottle of water, knowing they'd probably need it in the warming air of an otherwise nice morning. She found herself face to chin with Sanzo and she cocked her head back to look at him. The priest looked at her as well. The two regarded one another for a moment before Ana stepped around and past him to get to Hakuryuu and the usually present water bottle.

Sanzo's eyes followed her as though they had a mind of their own. Hakkai was regarding him out of the corner of his eye, internally bemused by the fact that Sanzo seemed to have a similar affection towards Ana as she had towards him… now if only he'd realize it. The next thoughts were of ashamedness. A boy had just died and he was mentally playing matchmaker. _'How disgusting,'_ he thought, returning his eyes to Gojyo in his worry. _'How shameful.'_

Ana returned with the bottle and went over to Gojyo, who looked ready to take the spade back from Goku, but she held out the water bottle to him instead. He looked at it in surprise and then back up at her. "Don't drink too much or too fast, okay?" she said, shaking it to make sure he heard the tiny sloshing sound of the liquid within. His eyes lowered to the bottle and as he took it, he mumbled out a 'thank you'. Twisting off the cap, he lifted it to his lips and took a swallow and then another. Two swallows after the first two, he lowered it again and wiped his mouth on the bandage-like wrappings that always encased his arms. He made a move to close it once again, but instead Ana took it and the unattached cap from him and offered the bottle to Goku.

"Thanks," he said, allowing Gojyo to take the spade as he rested a bit.

* * *

A few hours later had them returning down the mountain, emotionally drained and very quiet. The rest of the day was spent with Gojyo attempting to act normally and make the others smile and/or act like normal. However, things started getting noisy again that evening when they ordered pizza at the inn, several boxes worth. 

Ana picked at her cheese pizza, after have being rather firmly told to shut up by Sanzo after several loud complaints in the direction of "There's no pepperoni!!! How the hell can you have proper pizza if there's no pepperoni?!"

However, there was still noise. Not from Ana, who glared at Sanzo out of the corner of her eye since the priest hadn't let her get too far away ever since they had gotten back to the stupid inn. And she was sitting next to him. Not from Sanzo, though it seemed he was ready to make some noise as he had 'conjured' up his paper fan and had it resting on his shoulder. His eyes were developing a noticeable twitch but he figured Ana realized he probably wasn't going to hit her with it as she was now _quiet_. Not from Hakkai, as he was benignly grinning with a cup of green tea and had gotten his fill from a set of four pizza slices quietly swiped before the commotion began. His patience was being sorely tested, for his smile was becoming strained. The commotion was centered around the usual suspects, one with red eyes and the other with gold. One keeping two pizza boxes out of reach of the other while standing on the other's head.

Three guesses at the scene and the general gist of the words…

…And the first two don't count.

"Hey! Jerk wad! Th' piece with the seafood's mine!"

"Stuff it, short sh't! You already chowed down all th' damn pineapple! So back off!" Gojyo's words were slightly muffled by the slice of pizza dangling from his mouth. "An' show some damn respect while you're at it! I saved the world while _you_ played naptime, monkey!"

"But I'm so _hungry_! I have rigor mortis!"

"How th' 'ell's_that_ gonna get you pizza?"

Now, add a dash of Sanzo to the mix…

"Shut the hell up and eat, dammit! Some people want to go to sleep tonight!" Sanzo shouted, slapping down the argument like a fly as he used his fan to physically slap down a cockroach and his pesky friend, earning shouts of pain for his trouble.

Ana saw this and immediately started to snicker at the plight of the two youngest male members. Sanzo whipped around and smacked her on the head as well, forcing a yip from her lips. "I told you to shut it!"

"But I wasn't doing anything!" she complained, ducking away. She felt particularly whipped thanks that tiny little fact of… She wondered briefly, interrupting that previous thought, whether or not he thought any about that kiss of theirs.

Even as she thought about it, Hakkai happened to speak up, laughing as he did so. "You're all so active today!" The unspoken words of 'considering we were up all night' lingered in the air. As no one was paying attention to him because of their activities, he sobered again, his smile falling off his face in his own sadness and musings. _'After our last encounter… and Kinkaku's burial… we couldn't find any evidence of that man called "Kami-sama". After everything, all we could do is leave the mountain. But since we got back to the inn… Gojyo has been acting like nothing happened at all.'_ Hakkai looked at the kappa in question, almost frowning as he nursed his mug of tea. Gojyo was harassing both Ana and Goku as he broke out a cigarette. _'That's very unusual… for him. He's never been one to repress.'_

Eventually the festivities were broken up by Sanzo firmly yanking Ana out from the middle of the increasingly louder and rougher play with his unoccupied-by-a-cigarette hand, getting a very exasperated look from the youngest member of the Ikkou and a couple of complaints from Gojyo and Goku.

Sanzo was struggling internally with his emotions and his nerves were very strained at the moment. It was taking a monumental effort to keep her close for his peace of mind and not jump her. It certainly didn't help that Hakkai was acting kind of gloomy and Gojyo kept shooting knowing smirks at the priest every time Ana and Goku weren't looking at him.

He was drawn out of his internal struggles by Goku's voice, muffled slightly by pizza as he sat down. "Y'know that crazy jerk we met? Who do ya think he really is?" he asked, mostly of Sanzo.

Sanzo, in turn, responded. He put out the remains of his cigarette in the handy ashtray as he spoke. "Hell if I know. We have no clue who he is or what he wants. We don't even know if he is really even a Sanzo."

"Is there any way to know?" asked Ana.

"No way, really. I've never met any of the other Sanzos out there so, there's no way to tell. If he isn't, he's some cosplaying nutcase and as long as he is not aligned with Gyumaoh, we aren't worrying about him."

"Wait!" yelped Goku, standing in shock. "We're just gonna forget him and keep goin'?"

"Why?! After…" Ana's voice faded into silence and for the first time since they had come back, though everyone missed it, Gojyo's face gained a stormy look that was fleeting.

Sanzo gave her a bland look as Hakkai remained quiet. The priest knew where she had been headed with that particular line of thought. "We _are_ leaving," he insisted. "In case you two haven't noticed, we're very good at getting distracted from our mission." He turned his eyes on Goku as he pulled yet another cigarette from his pack. "Understood?"

"But that guy was—" Goku tried again as Sanzo lit the fag. However, when Sanzo looked at him harshly, he fell silent.

"We are _not_ defenders of justice, Goku," the priest said, getting tired of the protesting. "If I say we go, we go."

The two stared at him for a long moment, both looking affronted by Sanzo's blatant shoot-down of their idea to obtain justice for the two boys who lost their lives to a maniac. Goku was the first to look away, acting like he didn't care, though it was quite obvious he _did_ from his tone. "_Fine_. Whatever ya say," he said as he turned to walk away, waving the smoke out of his face.

Ana just gave him a long look before she stood abruptly and walked away, feeling the heat of Sanzo's gaze on her back for a moment as she perched on the bed and mused.

"Woah…" Gojyo said, edging over to Hakkai. "Methinks the monkey's going through a bit of a rebellious phase."

Hakkai glanced up at him in some surprise. "Hm? Are you really one to talk, Gojyo?" he asked.

However, the look on Gojyo's face gave him pause. Hakkai's eyes narrowed as he took in the sort of… considering, sad air about Gojyo.

However, the spell was broken as the red-haired man suddenly turned away, muttering a single word. "Sorry."

Hakkai looked after the kappa as he went to the door of the room, snagging Goku's elbow as he went. "Off your ass, Goku, and let's go get some sleep."

"But I don't wanna share a room with you!" protested Goku as he was dragged off.

"Tough."

Ana watched as they left, her mouth turned down in a rosebud frown as she pursed her lips together. What a miserable day.

"All right, Ana-dono," Hakkai said with a false smile, drawing her attention to him. "Time for bed." Her eyes twitched to Sanzo for a moment, who seemed to have just averted his eyes from her.

"Coming," she sighed, sliding off the bed that she had piled herself on and much to her surprise, Hakkai actually turned down her sheets for her. "You didn't have to do that," she said to him.

He smiled at her. "Allow me my idiosyncrasies, please."

She blinked. "I guess I can do that, but after I get changed for bed."

"Of course." She passed Sanzo to get to her bag, his eyes gravitating to her as she did so. Eventually, after getting back from her shower, they all turned in. None of them knew what tomorrow would bring…

((Author's Note: Sanzo's looking a little possessive, isn't he? Ana is trying to not dwell on her feelings as is Sanzo, but neither are actually doing too well. Sanzo is always watching her or worrying about her and Ana is trying to not burden him with her feelings. Just so you know… It will take a bit more for them to actually resolve themselves of their problems… and as it is very obvious right now there is some attraction, they will be getting together… just… a bit later.))

* * *

The next morning dawned brightly, clean and crisp. Ana stirred as roughened fingertips brushed over her upturned right cheek, forcing her out of sleep. "Nnnh…" she mumbled, her eyes shifting under her lids as she rolled over onto her back. The fingertips left her face and the sound of something moving across the room filled her awareness as her eyes cracked open against the glare of the sun. Hakkai was in her vision, smiling quite happily for someone that she wasn't sure of whether or not he was even a morning person. 

"Morning, Ana-dono!" he chirped before chattering airily. "Time to get up and get ready to go. You go on to the bathroom and take care of yourself. Sanzo and I will be along after you, so don't take too long. We've got a long way to go and we don't need to waste it here at this inn."

She stared at him, her vision slightly blurred, with one eye as the other had closed with her hand limply shielding it. "Who… th' hell… gave you sugar?" she demanded in a voice slurred by sleep. "An' can I shoot 'em?"

He grinned at her, knowing that she didn't know it hadn't been his hand to actually wake her up. The one who had done the honors was actually pretending to be quite busy on the other side of the room, a stormy look on his face. "Now if you will excuse me, I'll have to go and wake the others," he told her before bustling off.

Slowly, Ana propped herself up and slid her legs out over the edge of the bed so she could sit up properly. The Latina yawned widely, fighting the temptation to lay back down when Hakkai suddenly burst back into the room, startling both her and Sanzo to stare at him.

"Gojyo's gone," he said, his bright smile gone and his face worried.

"What the hell do you mean?" demanded Sanzo as Goku came in, sleep in his eyes.

"Exactly what I said, Sanzo. Gojyo is gone. I don't know where," he told the violet eyed priest.

"Gojyo's gone?" asked Goku, sitting down next to Ana on the bed. "Didja check th' bathroom?"

"I'm sorry, Goku, but I believe that's not the case."

Sanzo sat down and lit a cigarette, puffing at it thoughtfully and considering the options.

"Hakkai? Do you think he went after that Kami-sama guy?" asked Ana worriedly. The youkai actually sighed in a sort of conformation way.

"One can only assume," Hakkai murmured, his eyes hidden by his hair as he ducked his head, his frown quite visible, which only served to worry the others all the more. "I need your opinion on this, Sanzo," he said, garnering the priest's attention. "What should we do?"

"I couldn't care less," the priest said after a moment, not looking at any of them. "We'll put off our leaving until this afternoon. If he's not back, we're leaving regardless."

"Generous of you to delay even a little while," Hakkai said, mildly surprised. "Thank you."

Sanzo, in reality, wasn't doing it for Gojyo or Hakkai or even Goku. He knew that Ana was close to the kappa and while he wanted to push up the time of which they would leave back to that very morning, pushing the deadline back a bit would ensure Ana not giving him glares all the time.

"Wha?!" yelped Goku, his golden eyes wide. "If we leave b'fore Gojyo's back, then what'll we do?!"

"Keep going, what else?" Sanzo demanded flatly of the chimp. "In case you don't remember, when I say 'no more setbacks', that is _exactly_ what I mean."

"But—" Ana said, standing to look at him, her heart clenching sadly at his determination to get his job done rather than keeping his friends with him. "But if we just leave him, you can bet something'll happen!"

"Like what?" asked Sanzo, looking at her.

"Like Gojyo maybe dying or something!"

"Why should _I_ care? Gojyo's decisions are _Gojyo's_ decisions. I do not make them and they do not concern me. Can you two b—" He changed his next word, considering she really wasn't a brat… though she was being bratty. "—get that?" His eyes were flat as he stood to tower somewhat over the two teens. "_Or do the two of you want to go keep his sorry ass company?_"

Ana and Goku - though they didn't like it - swallowed their words.

Ana quickly took a shower and got dressed, feeling slightly reminiscent, in an older tank top with the word 'Angel' emblazoned across the front of it and an unzipped hoodie with the divided text of 'Screaming Bluejays' framing it. She pulled on a newer pair of khaki pants, already showing signs of hard use as there were mended rips here and there and the knees (much to Hakkai's distaste and itching fingers) were left ripped out, and her trusty pair of boots.

She reentered the room where her and the two older members of the ikkou had slept in and found it empty save for Sanzo. The teenage woman knew that the green-eyed demon could be found next door alternating between helping Goku pack and calming Goku down… as well as staring at a can full of cigarette butts he had yet to toss in the trash.

She eyed Sanzo for a long moment, the man seeming unperturbed by his decision to leave behind Gojyo. However, her gaze was enough to get him to look at her.

"What?" he asked flatly.

She bit her lower lip for a moment before marching over to stand in front of him, looking distinctly curious and upset.

"Why didja do it?"

"Do what?"

"You're an asshole, Sanzo," she said blithely. "If Gojyo vanished to go to the bathroom like Goku suggested, you'd still say that if he wasn't done shitting by the time you wanted to leave, we'd still leave even if he was constipated and was coming in 'just a minute'. So why did you push back the time we were gonna leave?"

He gave her a long steady look before turning away. "It doesn't matter," he told her.

She stared at him for a very long moment before smiling quite warmly. "Even if you're an asshole, Sanzo," she said then, lacing her fingers together behind her back and momentarily rocking back to balance on the heels of her feet. "You're still pretty nice." She fell flat footed again and leaned in quickly to plant a quick little kiss on the cheek he had turned to her, making him freeze in wide-eyed surprise (hidden by his bangs), before going to her rented bed and making sure all her possessions were in her bag.

Sanzo turned his face to her, his eyes still shocked as he wondered what in the hell had inspired her to do _that_. He firmly pulled the facts of why he shouldn't pursue a relationship with her before his eyes, settling him down at least enough to not do something incredibly stupid.

Afternoon came all too soon, and they took their bags out to an already transformed Jeep at a little past one. Gojyo's presence was noticeably not there and suddenly Ana and Goku had a hell of a lot more room on the back bench.

Silence held sway in the car, and they all just… existed around each other. Ana, who was sitting behind Sanzo, stared at the terrain as it flew past. Sanzo himself dozed. Goku watched the sky and the branches that blocked his vision every now and again. Hakkai drove, his smile not even present at all.

It was awkward to the point of nearing a need for speech. And who better to fill that silence than…

"Hey," whined Goku as he leaned forward. "I'm hung—"

"_Silence_," bit out Sanzo, cutting off the monkey.

"Hey!" protested Goku, standing up in the floorboards. "I wasn't done talkin'!"

"And yet my ears are already exhausted," grated Sanzo.

"Don't worry, Goku," Hakkai told him in an obviously false cheer. "We'll reach the next town before long."

Ana's hand grabbed Goku by the cape and dragged him down to sit again. "Siddown," she said blandly. "Before you get bucked out and we hafta stop and get yer ass."

Goku gave her a startled look as he dropped into his seat. His gaze shifted away and he laced his fingers behind his head as he slouched down as far as he could to be able to lay down somewhat. "…Bah…" His eyes slid open and he undid one hand to reach for the sky, voicing a strange quartet of words. "So vast and empty…" murmured the chimp.

And the rest of the ride passed in brooding silence.

They parked four hours later in the next town, Hakuryuu transforming and taking a perch upon Ana's shoulder as she stuffed her hands in her pockets, looking about the town.

"This town seems fairly peaceful," mused Hakkai. The words were designed for the least ability to upset. He could feel the tension in the group like it was truly there in physical form. Ana looked at him and frowned as he continued, pulling out a shopping list. "Now… let's see. All we need is—"

Goku turned suddenly to run to a nearby food stall, saying, "Woo! Takoyaki stand, takoyaki—_Ack_!" He yelped as Sanzo's fan caught him square in the face hard enough to send him stumbling back some.

"Behave yourself, moron," Sanzo said, his eyes violet agates.

"Oooow! Dammit!" whined Goku, nursing his sore nose as he grew angry. "That hurt more'n usual!"

"You're imagining things," came the flat reply.

"Liar!" protested Goku, brandishing an accusing finger at Sanzo. "It hurt twice as bad!"

"…Fine," gave in the priest. "Hakkai, I'm going to go feed this brat something."

Goku's mood did a one-eighty and he was suddenly happy. "Yay!"

Ana gave the pair a flat look and then looked away, irritation flooding her system from antics that had done nothing more than amuse and/or exasperate her a week ago. She saw Hakkai finishing with his shopping at a nearby booth, having taken his opportunity to get things done while the others argued. "Ch…" she muttered even as the green-eyed demon replied, "By all means. There's no avoiding some chores, is there?" A hint of his old smile had come back as he lifted a bag filled with goods. "Gojyo, would you mind carrying—" He paused, realizing his error, his smile fading momentarily as the hand holding the bag lowered.

The bag was yanked out of his hands. "Sorry, I'm the answering machine," a distinctly feminine voice said in an irritable tone. "And if you don't like it, forget it."

"Ah… thank you," he said, blinking at her as she grabbed another two bags to balance out both sides and gave him a bland look as if to say 'where next?' "We're all done here, I suppose. We could go and get a room?"

Ana looked at him for a long moment and Hakkai saw an undeniable sadness in her eyes. It was obvious she missed Gojyo. Hakkai knew that the girl had taken to the older man like he was a brother and the absence of yet another brother had hit her hard. "Whatever," she said, looking away. "Pick a direction before these stupid bags cut off my fingers or something."

"Of course," sighed Hakkai.

They found the inn that they had chosen to stay in that night and had stuffed their purchases in the room itself. It took all of an hour to get their ordered food to the table and immediately they fell upon it, Goku managing to get the lion's share and stuff himself silly.

Ana herself had given most of her portion over to Goku, not feeling very interested in eating and poked at the last remaining dumpling on her plate with the end of her chopsticks.

Hakkai was sipping on his green tea, a cheerful smile plastered on for the sake of the meal. He sipped at the liquid now and again, enjoying the happier atmosphere for the moment.

Sanzo had pushed back slightly from the table and was waiting politely for the bill to come so he could give over the Three Aspects' gold card. He'd rather just leave than stay in their presence, but he was the only one that had money.

And at that very moment, Goku pushed back from the table as he patted his now-full belly. "Nyaaah!" he sighed, contented. "My guts're all stuffed up!" he exclaimed, happy. "It's been forever since I ate so much!"

Hakkai laughed brightly. "I guess it's because you didn't have any competition this time."

Silence hit the table like an anvil, Hakkai nervously taking another sip from his mug. They had all once again been uncomfortably reminded of the lack of Gojyo.

Goku decided a change of topic would be good and used the opportunity. "Ya just reminded me, Hakkai. Whaddaya think happened to Kougaiji?"

"Well…" considered Hakkai, glad that there was indeed a change of topic. "He said he was collecting the sutras. Didn't he?"

"Means if that nutcase is the real thing, Mr. Fancy Pants is gonna go after him, too," Ana said, chasing the dumpling some more around the plate, her left hand supporting her cheek as her eyes remained firmly fixed upon the increasingly tattered thing.

"Are you gonna eat that?" asked Goku, curious.

Ana flicked her eyes up to him. "You can't have it after eating half of the rest of the food." Her eyes flicked back down to the dumpling and she poked it again, scooting it around the edge of the plate in a dumpling derby of one contestant.

"There are five Tenchi Kaigen scriptures," Sanzo said, the fingers of his right hand resting near the corner of his mouth as he considered his words. "I inherited two of them. The other Sanzo priest we heard about was eaten by that queenie youkai. Which means that besides me, there should be one or two more Sanzo's. Whether or not Kami-sama is indeed a Sanzo is up to the fact he actually has a scripture."

"Ya mean you don't know th' other ones?" asked Goku, surprise coloring his and the others' faces.

"Shouldn't you have a 'Sanzo Union' or something?" queried Hakkai.

"No," Sanzo said, regretting somewhat that he had even informed them about the others.

"Figures. You're too much of a loner," muttered Ana, her eyes fixed on her plate. Sanzo's eyes flicked to her for a moment, hurt shining ever so slightly in his eyes that no one caught it before a thought burbled up in his mind… an image of another Sanzo but the details were very difficult to grasp. He only remembered not liking the way the man smiled. That it was cruel. And at that… the details slipped from him completely.

"Sanzo?" asked Ana, looking up at him, slightly worried. He must have zoned out for a couple of minutes.

"Are you all right?" queried Hakkai from the opposite side of the table, looking a tad worried himself.

"Hn. I'm fine," he said shortly, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out his cigarettes, making sure to lay out his gold card at the same time. Putting one in his mouth, he thought to himself, _'I almost remembered something. There was a reason I didn't like that priest, but…'_ He stuffed the packet into his sleeve again and then remembered a tad bit belatedly that his lighter had been left in their room when he had lit a cigarette then. Shit. "…Oi," he said, looking up as a waitress took the card to pay for the bill. "Somebody give me a light…"

He stared at the trio that was staring at him, Hakkai with an indecipherable smile, Goku with a blank look, and Ana looking somewhere between bored and bemused as she lightly tapped her chopsticks on the edge of her plate. He yanked the fag out of his mouth in irritation, muttering a curse as the pressure he exerted on the slim stick of rolled tobacco snapped it. The priest shoved back from the table and stood, stomping off in his irritation of not being able to fix his nicotine craving right that instant.

Goku watched him go even as Hakkai turned to Ana who had forgone the chasing and went right to the stabbing mutilation of the dumpling. _'Huh… that's weird,"_ the chimp mused as Hakkai tried to get the monkey's best friend to leave the dumpling alone without much success. _'What's with Sanzo?'_

"Ana-dono, you shouldn't be doing that."

"It's my dumpling. I get to kill it if I want to," Ana said in a peevish manner.

Hakkai sighed and glanced up as the waitress returned the gold card and the receipt to be signed. After a brief thanks, he quickly scripted his signature and picked up the card. "Well, let's go to our room," he said, taking another glance at Ana who had, much to his relief, finished maiming the now massacred dumpling remains on her plate. All that was pretty much left was a bit of shredded dough and a tiny ball of meat broken into several pieces. She laid down the chopsticks with a clink and stood.

"Fine by me. Get up, Goku," she said, grabbing Goku's wrist and pretty much dragging him out of his chair and then out of the room. The lack of Gojyo to interact with and help buffer the others' quirks and irritating habits was beginning to rub her nerves raw.

Hakkai followed, his smile falling into a frown now that their backs were turned on him. Though there were still four like in the beginning of their journey… the lack of Gojyo felt very odd to the human-turned-youkai. He had become accustomed to having the half-demon around in the years he had known him. And though he didn't begrudge Ana of her place with them, she certainly didn't replace Gojyo.

Finally, they made it upstairs and found Sanzo smoking at the table and Hakuryuu curled on the bed asleep. Ana released Goku's wrist even as Hakkai returned the card to Sanzo with his false smile absent and his brooding, contemplative face taking charge.

Ana dropped into a chair and put her elbows on the table as she childishly kicked her feet underneath the surface, a bored frown on her face. Goku had sat down on the bed and was fine for the moment, it seemed, as he petted Hakuryuu's fur.

However, Hakkai and Sanzo started talking business. At a query from Sanzo as to how far they had come, Hakkai pulled out the maps and began to lay them out. "Ah," said the green-eyed demon, his finger tracing a highlighted route on the map. "Here we are," he murmured, running his finger down the route. "And I'd say we're about… here." At 'here', he tapped the map approximately in the middle of the highlighted route. "It seems we've gone about halfway," he mused. "If all goes well, we should be in India before long."

"Not only am I halfway around the world in a country I never really wanted to go to," grumbled Ana under her breath. "I'm going to see yet another country I never thought I'd see." Both older men pointedly ignored her mumbles. They were near indecipherable anyway.

"Fine," grunted Sanzo, peering over the map as he lifted it up slightly to see it better. "That is, as long as we avoid any more painfully unnecessary detours."

The response had apparently made Hakkai pause, his frown a little more obvious. "'Fine'," he mused to himself, quietly yet loud enough to be heard. "I wonder."

Sanzo's head turned to look at him, questioningly, cigarette still dangling from his lips. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing. But, really, Sanzo," Hakkai said in reply, turning mother hen again as he reached up to try and wave off the smoke that was hazing the room without much success. "Your smoking is getting out of hand. You're turning our breathing air white."

Sanzo decided that rudeness would be the best way to go. "Then open a window and leave me the hell alone."

Ana watched the byplay without much interest even as Hakkai's arms stilled, the demon's face turning even more decidedly down into a frown. Over on the bed, Goku was no longer petting Hakuryuu but was starting to try and play with the sleeping dragon, bored out of his wits. Sanzo had to continue to push the envelope, however.

Lifting his mug up with nary a glance at the youkai, he said, "How about a refill?"

Hakkai suddenly scowled angrily, unnoticed by both Sanzo and Ana, for Sanzo was still looking over maps and Ana was staring at the wood grain in the table, trying to decipher patterns. She thought she saw a bunny ra—

Both jerked back in shock as a coffee pot was more or less slammed down onto the table, the dark hot liquid inside sloshing wildly. Their shocked faces turned to Hakkai, whose smile seemed congenial at first glance but was laced with irritation and anger and was perhaps slightly poisonous.

"Help yourself," he said 'cheerfully' in a way that sent chills up Ana's back. Sanzo had apparently caught it as well for the next words out of his mouth were:

"…Damn it all to hell." He leaned forward in his seat slightly, a bit of a threatening gesture for his eyes were hard. "If there's something you wanna say—"

He didn't continue as there was a sudden onslaught of pained staccato yelps and a series of screeching cheeps from the bed. They turned to see Goku, pained-slash-angry grimace on his face, trying to ensure Hakuryuu from biting him, one hand clasped about the dragon's tail. "What the heck're you doin'?!" he growled at the peeved animal, who continued to cheep angrily at him. "Stoppit, Jeep!" The dragon wrenched himself out of Goku's grasp and beat it to the nearest safe person, which happened to be Hakkai.

"What's going on here?" asked the startled youkai, trying to comfort the white dragon by petting down his spine.

"I was playin' with him an' he bit me!" Goku said, indignant.

"You can't just interrupt his sleep, Goku," chided Hakkai. "It upsets him."

Goku settled back, his fingers curling around a pillow. He took the stuffed object and brought it around to hug it, half burying his face in it. "Nnn," he muttered. "Man," he whined. "I'm _bored_. An' everyone's gettin' all weird."

Ana watched him, knowing what he meant, but she just couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. Hakkai frowned at him in a different manner than being upset. Now it appeared he was concerned. And Sanzo didn't even bother to look at the chimp. Ana huffed quietly before putting her head down on her arms to block most of the people out of her line of sight. They were all acting weird. It wasn't her job to tell them to change.

"Sanzo!" Goku suddenly said, pushing down the pillow for a moment. "Do we really—"

Sanzo cut him off. "Can it," he ordered. "Another idiotic word out of your mouth and you're dead."

Goku observed him for a long moment, the priest never once looking at him. Then he spoke again. "I know there's more room in Jeep now… but it still feels smaller, y'know?"

"Make sense, Goku," Ana said, her voice muffled slightly even as Sanzo had started to turn to tell him off. He paused, gave a glare at the chimp and turned to settle back in his chair. "Yaking about contradictions gets you funny looks."

Goku's hands seized up around the pillow. "_Hey_!" he protested, not appreciating the tone Ana had taken with him. "I'm just sayin' that—"

Again he was cut off. "Come now, Goku," 'calmed' Hakkai. "Don't lose your temper." He looked at Ana and Sanzo. "And the two of you should not take your frustrations out on him."

Ana's head snapped up and she gave the youkai a baleful glare. "_Forgive_ me for_expressing_ my _opinions_, Oh _Wise One_," she bit out in a highly sarcastic tone. "And while you're making these little announcements, why don't you try _politely_ setting things down _instead_ of trying to _slam_ them through the goddamn _table_?"

Hakkai's mouth pressed into a thin, grim line. "I will admit, I wasn't acting very charitable at that moment," he admitted. "But honestly, you've become far more irritable, Ana-dono." He looked at Sanzo even as Ana gave him an indignant snort, who was giving the man a questioning, sour look. "And you, Sanzo, are smoking three times as much as you normally do, and the wrinkles between your eyes are deeper."

Immediately, Goku piped up with a declarative tone. "See? Even Hakkai thinks you're both actin' weird!"

Hakkai gave him a quelling glance and the monkey backed down for a moment. "I wouldn't call it 'weird', per se," he said before turning his attention back to the group in general. "To be quite honest, we have a problem on our hands. Every day, the danger we are in grows as we get closer to India. Even _I_ wonder how we made it this far without a fifth of our party."

Sanzo turned his back on the youkai. "_You're_ the one with frustrations. Get real, Hakkai." Green eyes turned to the priest even as Sanzo's blonde head turned so violet could meet green. "If you're so damned concerned, you might as well jump ship like your pal." As he said this, Hakkai's facial expression grew darker. Sanzo continued his insult. "Unless that's not it at all. Maybe you're mad at yourself for knowing he would go and still letting him."

That was it for Hakkai and he looked at Sanzo, immediately chilling the bystanders that were Goku and Ana with the cold expression. "I'm worried out of my_mind_, Sanzo," he said sharply, no hint of humor to his tone and visibly angry. "And yet you dare talk to me in that manner?"

Ana stared at him in absolute shock. She had seen Hakkai serious, but angry on him was terrifying. For a brief moment, she could see the person that really could murder a thousand people, so great and terrible was his firm resolve – which she had seen before – and this new revelation.

Goku was also freaked out and had started edging away from him, as he felt he was too close to the cold fury that was Cho Hakkai.

"I don't remember asking you to care," Sanzo said in an unconcerned manner before taking a drag from his cigarette.

At that moment, all tensions broke loose and shouting filled the air.

"Fine!" roared Hakkai, sending Ana scrambling backwards in alarm. "Think what you will! Despite what you may think, Sanzo, I'm not trying to take sides! What is it that you want me to do?! We only have three proficient fighters right now and of course one fighter that we have to watch out for because she isn't strong enough to fight completely on her own! And you _know_ that we can't complete this mission with just one or two people!"

Immediately, Sanzo pushed himself to his feet, spinning to face the shouting youkai. His chair almost fell to the floor. "I already said I'm not asking for your damn help! And why should I give a damn about someone who'd up and leave?!"

"Tell us the truth, Sanzo!" pressed Hakkai, his eyes like emerald agate. "You're worried about Kami-sama, aren't you?!"

"Don't you put fucking words in my mouth!" snapped Sanzo. "You and the junior high newspaper committee can go fucking screw yourselves!"

"God! Stop arguing already! You two are giving me a fucking headache!" Ana shouted, her higher pitched voice carrying as well as their throatier shouts as her hand slapped down on the table.

Sanzo turned on her. "Stay out of this!"

"No I _won't_, you holier-than-thou piece of _shit_!" shot back Ana.

"Stop yelling at Ana-dono, Sanzo! She's done nothing to receive your wrath!" Hakkai said, his voice growing louder in his anger in light of the fact that Sanzo was lashing out at the teenage woman he knew the priest cared for.

Sanzo's furious violet eyes flicked at Hakkai before they trained on Ana again as she continued like Hakkai hadn't even spoken a moment before. "And the world doesn't fucking revolve around you despite what you may think! Gojyo's gone and _you're_ acting like he did it deliberately against _you_!"

"_Quit it_, you guys!" yelled Goku even as Sanzo roared, "I never want to hear that bastard's name again!"

"Try and stop me! Gojyo, Gojyo, Gojyo, _Gojyo_!"

"Shut _up_!" snapped Goku, gaining momentary attention from all three arguers. "If we go back an' look for Gojyo, it won't be _like_ this anymore!"

"What did I say about that goddamn name?" Sanzo said, snapping at the youngest male. "Can't you get that through your thick skull, monkey?"

That was it for Goku's own temper and the pillow he had been clutching in an increasingly tightened grip was suddenly thrown at Sanzo with a shout of: "Just_listen_ to me!" Said pillow slammed into Genjyo Sanzo's face, much to everyone's shock. The pillow, incapable of staying up on the Sanzo's face, was grabbed by gravity's pull to reveal a very pissed-slash-incredulous expression. Everyone stared for a moment before a small, nervous giggle fell from Ana's lips. "Uh… Wh-whoops?" Goku 'apologized', the large, equally nervous grin on his face undeniable as Hakkai's own hand covered his mouth to disguise the smile, but it was obvious the green-eyed-demon, expression still mostly dark, was laughing inside as he shook visibly from the force of his own stifled laughs.

Any further 'discussions' were cut short as the windows shattered and a posse of youkai entered the newly created opening, glass crunching slightly under feet, bare and booted alike. "Heh, heh, heh," chortled the demon in the lead. "We finally found you, ya dirty priest! We're under direct orders from Lady Gyoukumen Koshu!" He proceeded to authoritively brandish his finger at the group before making more demands. "Prepare to hand over the sutra and die a miserable—" Two gunshots, two flunkies (one on each side of the spokesperson), two bodies hitting the floor with perfectly formed bullet holes in their foreheads. "Yeek?!" erked out the youkai as the others backed up a step, in part to miss the falling bodies that collided with the floor mere moments later, in part from sheer confusion. The group blinked as the Sanzo-ikkou shifted themselves to face the threats to their 'peaceful argument'. "Wha… Hey!" protested the leader, his rhythm totally thrown off.

"…Hmph. This is imbecilic," noted Sanzo in a flat, angry tone, his violet eyes hard as agates. "You know what I just realized? This all started because that shit-for-brains bailed on us."

"Indeed," gritted out Hakkai, his cheerful face gone.

"Man…" whined Goku. "Now I'm getting' mad!"

"He'd better be dead when we find him or else I'll be the one dancing to 'La Cucaracha' on his fuckin' balls!" hissed Ana.

"That… _That_..." muttered Goku, getting even angrier as he conjured up his Nyoi-bo.

"_**Goddamn stupid kappa**_!" roared Sanzo, firing off several shots even as the four of them attacked the youkai, eager to let out some of their anger and getting many yells of terror and screams of pain and death in return.

There was some talking between a couple of the youkai, the fierceness of the remaining ikkou members having addled their wits. However, they were immediately dispatched by Hakkai's elbow to the back of one's head and electrical discharge to the other's brains.

"Hakkai! Goku! Ana!" Sanzo snapped over his shoulder. "We're cleaning up this mess and then backtracking again!"

"I agree!" replied Hakkai.

"We're going to find that son of a bitch… _**so I can blow his goddamn brains out!!!**_" snarled out Sanzo as he shot another youkai, the lack of resemblance to the focus of his pissed-off-ness making him even more irritable.

"Graah!" was the reply as another youkai bit the dust.

((Author's Note 1: This was actually a fairly interesting scene in the manga as it is very rare for Hakkai to raise his voice in anger, concealed or no. Had Sanzo actually pushed him further, Hakkai might have even slipped out a swear word and _that_ is a near impossible and highly improbable thing from him.))

((Author's Note 2: This was something I noticed in the manga. On page 31 (panels 1, 3, & 4) of Volume 8, it shows Goku without his cape and other doo-hickey accessories. Again, it shows this form of outfit on page 33 (panel 5). However, on page 32 (panel 2), look closely at Goku's outfit. He's on the left side and mostly cut off but still visibly 'Goku'. Goku got dressed and undressed in microseconds!!! LOL!))  


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King of the Murgos is book two of a five part series called 'The Mallorean' by David Eddings. It continues after 'The Belgariad' and a few years after the defeat of the dark god Kal Torak. Now, a new threat has arisen and has stolen away Ce'Nedra's first born, sending Belgarion, his wife, and his companions scrambling on a new adventure to save the future king of Riva.

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**MANGA CHAPTERS SKIPPED:**

_Volume 7: Chapter 42: Ten Years Ago_

_MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:_

_Volume 7: Chapter 41: Farewell (Complete)_

_Volume 8: Chapter 43: Be Lacking_

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**Please review my story! I love all my reviews, flames included for usually if there is a flame (or criticism), something is wrong with my story. Care to help me out? And did I mention I love it when people review. The purpley-blue button is just... down... there. Pretty please? Press it?**


	19. NOTICE

Kanzeon Bosatsu[appears before audience, gives group a bland look for judgement before smiling Hello! I'm your favorite god-dess, Kanzeon Bosatsu. Unfortunately, I have to read a notice to all of you for Khait is too embarassed to give it to you herself. [pulls reading glasses out of nowhere and puts them on; pulls out paper from nowhere and scans it Let's see... ah, here we are... [begins to read paper in hi-r hand

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DATE: Thursday, January 17, 2008

TO ALL READERS:

Forgive me for not posting a chapter in a very long time. I've been busy with putting together a trip to Turkey that I've been looking forward to for a while. So, until sometime in February (maybe the eighth or so), there will be no more updates.

I haven't been writing lately, which means I don't have the chapter ready for your imagination's appetite. Very bad of me, I know. To all those that have reviewed up to this point, thank you and I will respond to those reviews once I post another chapter.

Please forgive me!

Khait Khepri

P.S. I can't get any of you anything from Turkey, but I hope you don't hate me for it!

P.P.S. I'll leave this up since it is a bit of 'story' and pick up where I left off after this.

Bye!

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Kannon[pulls off glasses, puts paper away, and surveys audience again That's what it says. She'll be gone for about two weeks, from January twenty-second to February fourth and needs time to recuperate from her trip as well as work on a piece of story for you. Ta[vanishes 


	20. XVIII: Snowcrash

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Saiyuki no matter how many times I wish. Please, do not sue me.

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**Reviews:**

**FOR CHAPTER XVII (KING OF THE MURGOS):**

Twilight-to-Nightfall, no problem not reviewing! I won't hold it against you!

PhantomoftheBasket, did you get the volume? It's been a while since I've been on and asked. And yes, denial is a wonderful plot device. Enjoy this chapter now.

Jesslyn's Vanity, definitely one of those rare times for the youkai. And I love antagonizing those two. It's too much fun.

Estriel, I forgot to write in the cigarette, actually. And it was fun to make them just about attack each other!

Mercury's Moonlight Serenity... did I get that right? Okay, thank you for the criticizm, and I'll try to check through my chapters now. I do space, but for some reason this computer decides to eat spaces before the italicized words if they're mixed with unaccented ones. I'll also make sure to not put in the A/Ns right in the middle either. Normally I don't, but I still just kinda scan over them in other stories if possible.

A Reviewer, I adore the twins. It made me so sad to lose them as well. I wish I could have saved them, but them dying was essential to the story. And Gojyo is a passionate soul. Don't hate on him for it. Besides, as you said, Hakkai blew up a bit. And I love seeing all their different sides. Besides, a kiss is all good, no?

Silver-eyed, here's more!

DustBunnyQueen, Ana is so gonna get at Gojyo for what he's done as are the rest. Enjoy that... eventually.

Nami, yes, they're slow, but it will be worth it in the end.

DaydreamerMagby, Ana might have gone after Gojyo if she knew where he had gone. But she didn't and she didn't quite want to leave Sanzo. Otherwise, she'd've gone after the nutcase.

Cathy-the reader or Neko-chan, here's another update.

White Fire Alchemist, Gojyo's essential... he will be finding his way back into the party. And buy the rest of the series. It rocks.

Jaganshi Mori, at least you tried the story. I liked the psychology more than anything. And that line about the dumpling was totally random. I'm like that sometimes.

SakuraEmma29, more Kami-sama coming up.

xxBoredwithRealityxx, thank you so much for your opinion. Unfortunately, I'm far from wonderful about fight scenes, and I skip enough so that there's an assumable break for her to practice more with Hakkai-sensei. And she is getting a load of experience in battle. She's weak in comparison to them and they naturally worry.

Bluestocking, the puppet show thing was randomly inspired. I suddenly had a vision of him manipulating Kinkaku and Ginkaku like puppets... and the rest, too, really. Also, the word 'canon' means the actual story line as by the author... like Sanzo was not liked by other priests because he was Koumyou Sanzo's favorite and did well in 'monk school'. 'Fanon' is made by fans... like Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho has an insane sweet tooth.

ItakoFury, I believe I replied to your request, but here it is again. FictionPress(dot)com (or net... I'm not sure) is a non-fanfiction site. And thank you for enjoying my story.

**FOR NOTICE:**

To all those that wished me a good trip, thank you so much. I loved Turkey (from what I saw). I went to Ankara, a city in the mountains, and to Istanbul, a city on two continents. I visited both Asia and Europe! It was awesome. I didn't go by myself. I met my (unrelated) uncle's nephew there and... married him! I'm a wife now! Unfortunately, I have to do paperwork now to get him to be able to come to the U.S.A. He's from another country and, before you guys ask, I've talked to him for over a year and a half and we clicked right away, amazingly, when we saw each other. Anyways... here's another chapter. Enjoy.

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**Chapter XVIII: Snowcrash**

((Author's Note: I do realize that I have been skipping a lot of Kougaiji stuff these past few chapters. Unfortunately, they pretty much are playing out the exact same way they did in the manga. Refer to the volumes if you would like to know what is going on to the Ox Prince, his friends, and his sister.))

Somewhere in the woods of an unidentified area near a stream, a red-haired man crouched as he washed his face. The sunlight streamed through the branches as he shook his hands off and dropped back to sit down on the verdant turf next to the little stream. His face was stubbled, unshaved for the last few days as his razor had been inadvertently in the ever-mindful Hakkai's pack. He had accidentally left it in the bathroom and now his face was paying an itchy price. Absently scratching at the sparse whiskers, he said: "Man, I'm starved."

For a moment he laughed to himself as he got to his feet. "Now I'm sounding like the monkey," he snorted. However, he soon sobered again, remembering that Goku wasn't there to be ribbed… that he, Gojyo, had left the group in the middle of the night in search of a man that had manipulated and murdered two innocent children.

'_Hmm…'_ he thought. _'I wonder what the guys are doing now?'_

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Elsewhere, tires bit into dirt, throwing the car and its passengers over a small ridge to slam down on the other side, Hakkai grinning widely as the four tires hit the ground once more. "Mother fucking Jesus Christ Almighty!" strangled Ana in English as she clung to one side of Jeep. Goku clung to the other side, not using expletives to express himself but rather keeping his mouth shut so he didn't lose his damn cookies. The queasy look spoke volumes. Sanzo was also keeping 'calm' but it seemed he'd too lose his cool if they kept bouncing around harshly like this for much longer. He was more interested in shooting a kappa quickly.

"Please speak in Chinese, Ana-dono!" chirped Hakkai 'cheerfully'.

"I'll start speaking Chinese when you start driving _sane_!" hollered Ana at him, still in English. A rather rough bounce made her bite her tongue, causing her to yowl in pain a split second after. Much to her dismay, the taste of copper trickled across her tongue. The bounce had been enough for her to actually draw blood.

"Damn," muttered Sanzo. "I still can't believe we're going _the entire way back_."

Hakkai let out a bright false laugh. "Feel free to shoot him as much as you like when we find him!" he told the priest as Ana regretfully swallowed the bit of blood pooling in her mouth. She wasn't going to talk any more until they _stopped_.

Goku decided to chance opening his mouth, though, to speak. "Whadda we do if he's already dead?" asked the chimp from the back seat to Sanzo.

Immediately Sanzo gained a very pissed look at the idea. "Then I'll drag his sorry ass out of hell and kill him again."

"Sounds like a typical Sanzo-y thing ta say," Ana muttered between clenched teeth in Chinese.

"I'm certain he is alive," Hakkai said. "Gojyo's probably by himself somewhere, watching the sunset…" The picture he was painting was quickly turned sour by his next words. "…Smiling in self-derision as he thinks, 'I bet everyone's friggin' worried.'"

Goku started up slightly from his seat. "Wha? That! That creep!"

"Maybe death is too lenient," Sanzo said blandly.

She forgot her oath to herself. "Definitely. Can I stomp him in th—" Her words were cut off right as her tongue was between her teeth yet again. Of course, that would be exactly when Hakkai would floor it, causing her teeth to come right down on the already abused bit of muscle once more even as Goku tumbled back into his seat with a startled yelp and Sanzo clutched at the dash in front of him in an attempt to steady himself.

"Please settle down as I am planning to accelerate," Hakkai said in a cheerful tone.

"That would have been helpful about three seconds ago," Sanzo said blandly, fighting anger even as Ana tentatively reached into her mouth to feel how damaged her tongue was. Easy to say, there were definite cuts on her tongue and when her fingers were removed from her mouth, they glistened red.

"Ow," she muttered, earning a look from Goku even as she moved to suck the blood off her fingers and out of her mouth.

"Ah! Ana-chan's bleeding!" yelped Goku. The teen shot the slightly older boy a _look_ as she cleaned out her mouth.

"I'm well aware, Goku," she said blithely. Sanzo glanced over his shoulder and her normally white teeth were tinged pink when her lips uncovered them in a slight grimace as she braced herself against another bump. She was bleeding, but he couldn't tell from where, so he decided to drop it.

At the faster speed, they got back to the town rather early the next morning of their turn around. First thing they did was ask around if their… object of annoyance had been around recently and all the got in conformation was that he hadn't been there since they had left. Unfortunately, seeing as now they had to go and _find_ Gojyo, it didn't lessen their anger any. So immediately they headed to the place they had last seen Kami-sama and where Gojyo had probably gone.

Problem was… where they assumed Gojyo had gone wasn't exactly the same as it had been when they had left. In fact… it was very overgrown with trees, underbrush, and all kinds of junk.

"How odd…" mused Hakkai as he walked up to about three meters from the edge of the foliage and began to look up and down the front of this strange occurrence. "How very odd indeed…"

"Right?" Goku said, looking just as surprised as the others. "When we were here b'fore, th' mountain entrance wasn't like _that_, was it?"

"Looks like I need to invest in some Miracle Gro," mused Ana in a blasé tone, the joke only obvious by her words. "It seems to do wonders." Sanzo, whose arms had been folded over his chest from the moment they had gotten out of Jeep and began observing the situation with the overgrown area, shot her a slightly annoyed look.

"The foliage wasn't nearly so dense and it is impossible for it to become so in three or four days," observed the priest.

"Which is why we contribute it to Miracle Gro," chirped Ana, though she didn't smile as she looked over to them. "Whatever the case, we sure this is the right place?"

Hakkai frowned ever so slightly as he glanced at her. "I'm quite sure the entrance was around here a few days ago, but it seems that whatever path had been here is now quite unobvious. Searching the area hasn't proven anything to us otherwise, so…"

"We go with what your noggin is tellin' ya, right?" Ana replied, smirking. Hakkai gave her a brief nod.

"Yeah!" Goku said, turning on heel to point at the forest. "It was here, right? Let's just hack our way through an' find out!" With that he ran forward, unheeding of Hakkai's cautionary words.

"Um. Goku, that's not likely to—"

Goku plunged into the brush, causing Hakkai's words to die in his throat.

"Should we go after him?" Ana managed to get in edge-wise while hooking her thumbs into her hipster jean waistband before Goku suddenly reemerged from the undergrowth, looking befuddled as leaves fell from his hair.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Sanzo said blandly as the other two just stared at the befuddled look on the teen's face.

Goku blinked and turned back into the brush, vanishing once more… only to reappear a moment later, the confusion on his face growing to a confused rage. "Wha--?!" he yelled in anger.

"Give it a rest," Sanzo bit out, the novelty of the situation having lost its charm the moment Goku had come back the first time.

"What the hey…?" mused Ana, looking at Goku before switching to the trees and back. "How didja do that?"

"Well, that would certainly explain the oddity. There's a barrier here," Hakkai said conversationally.

"A barrier? _Here_? Since when?!" demanded Goku, pissed that he had been embarrassed so bad.

"Sometime since we left, most likely," Hakkai mused. "Gojyo has to be in that barrier because no one has seen him in town for days."

"Great," spat Sanzo. "Let's leave the bastard to that psycho and leave. This is more trouble than kicking his ass is worth."

"Sanzo," Hakkai said warningly, echoed by a whinier Goku and Ana. "We had to turn around and waste all that time getting here. Returning empty-handed would be quite a waste, wouldn't you say? You know that old saying: 'If you're going to eat the poison, might as well eat the plate.'"

Sanzo snorted, visibly conceding to Hakkai's point.

"But plates don't taste good," Goku said, not getting the saying.

"I don't think that's what he meant," Ana said, folding her arms over her chest as Hakkai smiled a little embarrassedly. Ana got the sentiment at least. Don't do something by halves… or did it mean if you're going to do something, go all the way? Whatever.

Sanzo wasn't really paying attention as he pulled his pistol out, reasoning something out verbally. "If the barrier was made with _nen_ it _should_ break from a physical attack reinforced by _nen_." With that, he raised up his gun, successfully gaining the attention of his comrades, and fired off three shots. Everyone stared at the forest, wondering if the barrier would break or…

Three gunshots echoed as they scattered, scared shitless as the bullets made a return trip. "Gaaaaah!" screamed Goku, terrified as Ana found herself crashing into Sanzo in an attempt to get away from his gunshots. "I knew it!"

"What the hell was that for, Sanzo?!" she shouted up at him, her pupils constricted from her fright as she glared balefully.

"Experimenting! So shut it!" he said, equally upset as he semi-roughly shoved her off of him. She stumbled back and clutched at her heart, making sure it didn't leap out of her chest. And it wasn't from close contact with the priest. Dimly, she was aware of the others steadying themselves as well.

"Whew!" gasped Goku, oblivious to the brief moment of tension between Sanzo and Ana. "I-I thought I was a goner."

"_Anyway_," grated Sanzo, settling on the ground and fishing for his cigarettes. He did not like to be reminded of his mistakes. "This barrier isn't thought—it's made with some kind of special spell."

"Y'mean people can make stuff out of thought?" asked Ana, cocking her head to one side.

* * *

SHORT SKIT: DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY

Out of no where, a woman appeared with a black Toshiba laptop – with two Linux penguin stickers stuck haphazardly on one corner – tucked under her left arm. All the Ikkou present looked at her in shock as she frowned at Ana. She was average height, five-foot-five-and-a-half-inches tall in English measurement, a little on the heavy side, and bore hazel green eyes and short dark brown hair liberally highlighted with blonde. Her clothes were strange but what was even stranger was that Ana's eyes suddenly lit up in recognition.

"Of course people can make things out of thought, you dolt!" she snapped out, surprisingly so that the group could understand her though Ana knew that in reality this woman spoke two languages fluently. English and bad English. And a little Spanish, too. "Where the hell do you think telephones, computers, books, plastics… heck… _you_ and this entire universe came from?! The bottom side of tuna surprise?!"

At that, the Ikkou stood on their feet and glared at the woman. "Who the hell are you?" demanded Sanzo.

The woman blinked owlishly at them and absently pushed at the bridge of non-existent glasses. Ana, however, spoke. "That's Nikki, but you can call her Khait Khepri," she told them with an amused grin. "She's the one that made me klepto, half Latina, and a whole lotta trouble for you guys."

Involuntarily, Nikki's lips twitched into an amused grin. "Oh… shame I can't stay," she said, eyeing the hotness of Ana's company. "But I have some writing to do and not enough time to do it in." She glanced specifically at Hakkai, an almost naughty smirk trying to make its self known. "If I could, I'd definitely be talking to _you_ more." Hakkai gained a slight blush over his cheeks, his eyes widening at the comment. "Okay… maybe not so much talking. I'll be honest."

"E-excuse me?" he stuttered out, backing up a half step as his face became redder.

"Perv," muttered Ana.

"Not really," mused Nikki. "I'm just a sucker for hot Irish men. Scotsmen, too… 'Specially if they're wearin' ah kilt."

"Stop getting accent-y," bit out Ana, pouting as she folded her arms over her chest. "And he ain't Irish. And you're married to a Persian dude."

"I'm sorry, but why do you say I'm Irish?" Hakkai said in a weak voice. Nikki gave him a wicked grin.

"I'm part Irish, doll, and you look straight from the Emeralde Isle. If you don't have a drop of blood from Great Britain in you, I will hang myself."

"Good, now go do that," Ana said even as Goku amusedly watched Hakkai sputter in a very flustered manner.

Nikki gave her a wide eyed innocent look, which was totally fake considering the earlier look. "And you don't want your story finished, Roxanna? 'Sides, I won't cheat on my husband. I'm all talk."

With that, the woman vanished, leaving the group standing there and trying to comprehend what exactly they just saw and heard.

END SHORT SKIT: THANK YOU

On with earlier programming. Disregard this as randomness inspired by Khait Khepri at the line 'people can make stuff out of thought'.

* * *

"More importantly, is there a way to break it?" queried Hakkai, all instances from a moment ago erased from his and all the others' heads as the strange woman sometimes known as Nikki began to work her fingers once again in a place called Fanfiction Writers Heaven, which was a step above the Heaven Kanzeon Bosatsu inhabited. Not even Ana remembered the visitation.

"Should be," mused Sanzo. "However… it is the _last_ thing on my 'fun' list."

Cue smart-assed remark from the peanut gallery. "You have a 'fun list'?"

Cue irritated look shot point blank at one certain brown-eyed girl.

"Is th' jutsu that dangerous?" asked Goku, worried.

"Not really. Just annoying," replied the priest. He eyed Goku carefully before glancing at Hakkai. He looked at Goku. "And it will likely require you."

"Huh?" said a surprised Goku

"Strip, Goku," he ordered.

"What?!" burst out Goku as his face colored red and Ana burst out into giggles. "I ain't gonna do that!"

Sanzo shot her a sour look before refocusing on Goku. "The technique requires multiple_tantra_ to be written all over the body of the one to pierce the barrier," he explained blandly. "Now strip down to your boxers."

"Hell no! You ain't gonna write a buncha _tantra_ all over me!" protested Goku as he firmly grasped the edge of the shirt like Sanzo was going to pounce him and strip the monkey forcibly. And minds out of the gutter, all of you. They won't be getting together. Not happening.

"Now, Goku, I have more surface area than you and it is obvious why Ana-dono shouldn't do such a thing," Hakkai lightly admonished the teen. Ana gained a peculiar look on her face, somewhere between a rosebud frown and a twitch of a smirk. True, Goku had the least surface area… but he wouldn't consent without either a fight or a very good argument.

She sighed just a tad bit theatrically, drawing Hakkai's attention to her and drew the rest of their attention when she said rather firmly: "Well, if Goku ain't gonna do it, I guess I should."

"Whaddaya mean?" asked Goku, instantly distracted. Her eyes flicked to him before squaring themselves onto Sanzo's eyes. He was looking at her in a very suspicious manner. He knew she was up to something.

"You said for him to strip to his boxers, right?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "Most of the _tantra_ must be on the skin."

"Mind if I keep my bra on?" she said as she grabbed at the buttons down the front of her Mandarin-collared shirt, a new mint green one that Hakkai had gotten her to replace the one that had been torn and stained with blood. It wasn't like she'd be flaunting Victoria's Secret or even any regular Wal-Mart bra. It would be her sports bra that they would see and it wasn't like _that_ was embarrassing. The panties might be a bigger concern…

As she unbuttoned up her belly, an increasingly bright blush covered Hakkai's face and he hurriedly turned away sputtering. Goku's flush was also deepening and one quick glance at Sanzo made _her_ want to blush. He was blushing and tongue tied. Sure, the blush was fairly faint, but there was an undeniable pink tint to his fa—

"Okay! I'll do it!" shrilled Goku, finally finding his voice again as he covered his eyes. "I'll do it!"

Ana, with shirt completely unbuttoned, smirked at Goku. Raising her hands back up, she grinned widely at Sanzo before assuming a pious look. "Are you sure? I don't mind, you know." Hakkai's strangled noises from his throat, completely unable to articulate an actual set of words, showed that he _did_ care. As did Sanzo. He had seen the look on her face. He knew she had manipulated Goku, but right now he was fighting himself to keep looking away from her.

"I don't mind if Sanzo paints on me!" hollered Goku, hurriedly pulling off his shirt with his eyes screwed shut as Ana slowly buttoned hers back up.

"Thanks, Goku," she told him. "You're really sweet."

Sanzo's eyes flicked to her just in time to see the final button be pulled through to prevent any sort of visible exposure of bra or tummy kind. Goku, on the other hand, had already pulled off all his clothes save his boxers and was blushing furiously. "Hn," he muttered, pulling out a brush and a metal bottle of ink from his sleeve, the carryall of this particular Sanzo priest. He unscrewed the glass lined metal stopper and dipped in the brush into the inkpot. "Get over here," he ordered. The monkey reluctantly came forward and jerked in surprise when the brush touched his skin. "Stay still, Goku," he told him blandly.

"That _tickles_," protested Goku though he stilled.

"Hn," grunted the priest as he continued his work. The other two observed as the inked brush left precise black streaks behind. The morning stretched on as occasionally Goku would twitch to certain brush strokes touching at certain points. Finally, Sanzo broke out strips of paper and inked them before sticking them on several points of Goku's body where he couldn't ink. "And…" He inked several other places on Goku's body. "Hn… That should be enough."

"There better be a good reason for this!" grumbled Goku, shooting both Ana and Hakkai a very sour look for they were both grinning widely at him.

"Oh, you look wonderful!" chuckled Hakkai.

"Bite me!" snapped Goku, deeply embarrassed that he was standing there in his skivvies with ink all over him.

"With those _tantra_ on your body, you can enter the shield," Sanzo said calmly as he stoppered the bottle and put it back in his sleeve though he kept the brush out for a moment so he could wash it clean of ink. "Now once you get on the other side of it, look for a mirror or a charm and break it. Once you do that, we're in."

"An' why was I stuck doing this again?" demanded Goku in general.

"I'm a girl," offered Ana, bringing another round of blushing to the fore before Hakkai took control.

"Ah, y-yes… I've got more surface area and Sanzo is the only one who can write the_tantra_… I'm sorry, but you were the only option."

"Now get going," Sanzo said flatly. Goku gave him a startled look before glaring, turning on heel and bolting from the group with an angry growled yell straight at the barrier.

He pierced it and skid to a halt inside, looking back over his shoulder and seeing the others staring blankly at the barrier that now stood between them and him. "Stupid," muttered the chimp as he looked around and found a small round mirror that sat slightly propped up between two tree roots near the entrance. _'Why the hell is it always me?!'_ he thought to himself as he grabbed the stupid object and pitched it at a short, squared off stone pillar that marked the entrance to the mountain with a strangled yell of anger. Immediately the mirror broke, the back of it the only thing left intact while the shards of mirror either tumbled to the ground or stayed tentatively in the mirror's frame.

"Oh, dear," he heard Hakkai say. "He seems to be really mad this time."

"Maybe he's more ticklish than we thought?" he heard Ana say.

He turned as he heard Sanzo say, "He's broken the first barrier. Let's go."

"Right-o!"

"Hey! I can hear you!" shouted Goku, pissed as the group walked up to him.

"Stop throwing a tantrum," the priest advised. "And wash up if you want. There's a stream ahead."

"Grr…" muttered Goku, simmering as he glared at Sanzo. Unfortunately, it was hard to take him seriously as he was still inked up and in his boxers.

"S'okay, Goku," Ana said, patting her friend's shoulder. "But you need to get clothes on before you get too threatening. Listening to a guy in boxers try to seem scary is dead funny." Goku pouted and the teenage girl grinned widely. "Well, you were nice earlier, so I'm trying to be nice back."

"Yer not bein' nice."

"Now that's a mean thing to say…"

* * *

Somewhere else on the mountain, a man with four days worth of scraggly stubble stared in an astonished manner at a tall flight of stairs, the cigarette in his mouth barely kept in his mouth by his teeth. "What the hell?" he muttered, the cigarette bobbing slightly. Gojyo was looking rather scruffy from his journey around the mountain, trying with all his might to find the bastard known as Kami-sama. His headband was currently being used as a hair tie to keep the back half of his fiery red strands tied back. However, the bangs, antennae, and sides of his hair still hung loose around his face.

"Hm… looks like an entrance," he continued. "Wonder if there's a temple up here or something…" It was the downside of being alone. There was no one there to joke with or talk to or anything except the surrounding scenery… and trees didn't really make good conversationalists. Pretty good listeners, but they didn't talk all that much. So, boredom took hold of the kappa and he talked to himself. Placing a foot onto the first step and unaware of the proximity of his friends that were currently thirsting for his blood, Sha Gojyo spoke once more. "S'not like I've got anything better to do. So I guess you better wash up, Mr. Divinity." He chuckled to himself. "Gojyo's paying _you_ a little house call."

As if the kappa wasn't perverted enough, he had to twist that phrase into something almost illicit.

Fifty steps… "Man… these things are pretty long…"

One hundred steps… and fog was blanketing just about all the scenery around him… "Are we there yet?"

Two hundred steps… "Ah, shit. These stairs blow. How many hours have I been climbing? Fuck. If I don't see the top of these goddamn stairs soon, I'll kill something." He thumbed the sweat from his brow, the drop tickling his face as he huffed for breath. _'Probably should cut back on the smoking. And I don't like this fog shit. It makes me feel like I'm… floating. I can barely tell if I'm going up or down. Man… Sanzo or Ana would probably give me sarcasm for that line. Good thing they're not here.'_ He sighed as he sat down on the steps, the fog swirling around him. _'And I'm hungry. Screw sounding like the monkey. I am.'_ As he broke out a cigarette, he thought out loud. "Maybe I'll cut back after I'm done kicking that sorry bastard's ass, right?" The fog didn't answer him.

'_Hm… I think… I've seen fog like this before. A long time ago…'_

He and Jien… his big brother… had gone into a forest near their home. It had gotten foggy and quiet as hell and before they knew it, they were lost. Gojyo had scrapes all over him from multiple things. Fights with other kids and his defenselessness against their mother. There were many reasons… and none were good.

Jien had told him not to cry. Like he was going to. He had to be strong and not cry… because if he did, he was pretty sure he wouldn't stop. Besides, boys didn't cry. Girls did. Mom did. And he didn't want to.

They argued some, he and his brother. As Jien looked around, saying something about getting out before sundown, Gojyo had accidentally stepped straight off a cliff they hadn't realized was so close. A startled yell escaped his lips and Jien had shouted his name in horror. The next thing the twelve-year-old had known was dangling from his brother's grasp at the top of a very steep cliff that he couldn't see the bottom of. Gojyo remembered being scared shitless and Jien telling him to not look down. Fat lot of good that did. Gojyo couldn't tear his eyes away from the emptiness beneath him for a long, long moment. Jien shouted comforting words, but now that a twenty-three-year-old Gojyo thought about it, the reassurances were more for himself rather than for Gojyo.

With some effort on Jien's part, he was hauled back up onto earth again and both of them hacked and heaved for a long moment. But then he noticed that Jien's arm was scraped really bad and called him on it. But Jien had waved it off and told him not to cry after noticing Gojyo's guilty look. That got a sharp retort from the hanyou child that he_wasn't_ going to cry. Which in return got a rather powerful noogie from his big brother.

Their mother came, calling for Jien. And Gojyo was shoved to the wayside for he knew his mother didn't care for him. She only loved Jien… and Jien… did everything he could to protect him from his mom.

Mom had cried 'don't leave ever again'… 'I was worried sick…' 'Never leave your mommy again!'

All directed at Jien…

None of it at him…

Jien knew it too… and looked at him standing there, a deeply sad look in his eyes.

And though Gojyo never knew it, it hurt his brother to see him so stubborn and refuse to cry.

"_I'm __**not**__ crying."_ That was the look he bore. That was what he had thought. _"You didn't have to say it. I never cried—not even once. People can spit at my hair color. My mother can try to kill me. But if I cry, I lose… and I never wanted pity. It would've made me look bad. It's not like it could've changed anything. Not really."_

Thoughts of his mother turned his mind to more saddening thoughts. He remembered his mother's crying face. The axe. Her words.

"If only you were gone!"

It was as if she were really there…

Wait!

Hands found themselves around his throat and he was stunned to see the face of his mother as her hands tightened around his throat… The kappa was forced back by the strength of her arms.

"Wha—Ghck!" he gasped, unable to speak clearly. "Hggh!" …Powerless to stop her… "M-mom?!"

"If you didn't exist," came her voice again, "I'd never have had to share him!" Tears falling.

'_I'm dreaming.'_ It was a thought that came unbidden, but then something else occurred to him. _'Unless… it's an illusion?'_

"If only you would die!" cried the specter of his past.

He lashed out and she vanished from on top of him. He gasped for breath as he sat up. "Sh-_shit_…" he mumbled. _'Maybe there's a drug in the fog.'_

But that was proved false an instant later as hands wrapped around his throat again, forcing him down. She was there. "S-stop it!" And he was helpless against her tears. But they weren't there anymore. Just a sneer.

"Why didn't it work? Didn't you _want_ to die? I tried!"

He remembered her raising that axe.

"I should've killed you," she said. "At least then I could have ended your suffering."

What? What was… this?

No longer were her hands strangling him. Instead, they were caressing his jaw line… his cheek. "See? You're all alone, even now." And for a moment, he felt like that little boy again. The little boy that wanted nothing more than to please his mother.

But he saw her lift the axe as she 'comforted' him…

…And he was that little boy no more. The weight of Shakujyo was in his hand…

…The blade flew…

…She was cut apart…

…And fell into red beads that looked a helluva lot like Kami-sama's.

Beads rolled to a stop in little indents or rolled over the edges of stairs to bounce down them with tiny clicks and pops. He knew it was nothing more than an illusion. But… he had killed her. And the big, strong kappa… cried.

"Sorry, Mom…" he said out loud. "But I'm not that kid anymore… and I've got way too much to do. I'm sorry."

"_Don't cry."_

That was what Jien said to him. But now that he thought about it… Every time he stood tearless, Jien gave him a very sad look like he knew that Gojyo wanted to cry but wouldn't. "Dammit… My brother and his goddamn subtext." For a long moment, he continued sitting there before lifting himself to his feet in a slightly unsteady manner, shrugging it off as from the shock of a near-death experience. "Asshole."

And with that… he slowly started up the stairs again, praying that his mother wouldn't come back.

* * *

On the mountain, Goku scrubbed vigorously at his arms and body as he repeatedly plunged himself underwater to get rid of all the ink. The others sat on the riverbank in idle conversation as he went through the wash cycle several times, resurfacing every so often to gasp for breath.

Noting a pause in the washing, Hakkai called out to the teen: "How's it coming, Goku? Have you washed them all off?"

"No!" hollered Goku, pissed off really bad. "What kind of ink _is_ this?!"

"Well, this is almost like a picnic… only with more hostility," mused Ana as she looked through a food supply bag for an apple.

"Thanks for the image," grunted Sanzo as Hakkai examined one ink-stained arm of Goku's next to the water. Ana watched them for a long moment. "Why the hell do you keep hanging around me?" he asked, gruffly.

Ana blinked and looked at him. "Remember? I was told to go with you," she said in an almost oblivious to what he meant tone.

"You know what I mean."

"You're nice. How about that?" He just looked at her in a disbelieving manner. "Obviously… you don't believe me." She smiled at him. "You're nice. You don't act it visibly, but you are. Really." _'It's how you behave when you think no one is paying attention.'_

He looked at her a long moment, shocked that she would smile at him so warmly. _'She's got to be confused or something,'_ he thought, looking away from her and letting the subject drop. And though he couldn't see it, Ana's smile turned wistful… then sad… before completely disappearing as she examined the fruit she had just found. _'Though it… might be nice if she really felt that way.'_

As she bit into the apple, Hakkai walked back up to them. "…Sanzo, we need to talk." Her eyes rolled up to look at the green eyed demon as Hakuryuu apparently got tired of flying about and settled on her shoulder.

"Need me to go away?" asked Ana.

"No, no," Hakkai said, making something of a reassuring motion. "I'm just speaking in general. It is fine, Ana-dono."

"So, what's this about?" asked Sanzo, annoyed that Hakkai was taking an unusually long time to get to the point.

"Yes… That is… why would that 'Kami-sama' fellow set up a barrier _now_ of all times?" Hakkai picked up Goku's discarded shirt rather absently and began to fold it.

"Hn. Hell if I know. Ask him yourself. We're sure to bump into the nutbar eventually," grunted Sanzo, looking down at the ground.

"True. This _is_ his territory," Ana mused, stroking at Hakuryuu's head and neck.

"Yes… you two would be quite right," laughed Hakkai as he laid down the folded shirt onto the pack next to him. Suddenly they were interrupted by a startled shout from Goku. Turning, they saw the boy clamber onto the bank and grab something before jerking on his pants and coming over to them.

"Lookit this!" he said, once he was in non-shouting distance. "Look at what I found!" he said, grasping at the front of his khakis as he held up his prize.

"It looks like a Hi-Lite," said Hakkai, taking the cigarette butt from Goku and examining it. "Hm. This is a sure sign of Gojyo if there ever was one. He must be just beyond…"

Hakkai trailed off when he pointed the way up the mountain and realized what they were looking at. The forest that the index finger was pointing at… was thickly tangled, overgrown, and generally impossible to navigate under any situation whatsoever.

It should be noted that the expressions of the party were very amusing at this point. Hakkai's smile froze into a parody of laughter even though he was feeling far from amused. His index finger still 'pointing the way' hung in the air, seemingly incapable of turning away from the impossibility. Goku's face was in the expression of 'what the hell?', his eyes staring as his hands were frozen about the shirt he was halfway to putting on completely. His mouth hung slightly open in a disbelieving manner. Sanzo looked like he was getting ready to murder something or someone, likely the kappa they've been pursuing. His mouth was set into a grim, slightly downturned line and his eyes were flat. Ana, last but not least, stared at the scene before them like she couldn't believe her eyes. Her face was mostly expressionless but her eyes betrayed her disbelief for they were widened and her eyebrows had gone up her forehead.

"The next question would be… how do we get over that?" Sanzo asked flatly.

The others stared in silence.

* * *

Elsewhere, Gojyo gasped as he just about crawled his way up the stairs of the seemingly never-ending staircase. "Shit on a goddamn stick!" he gasped, shaking as he paused in his crawling, his arms aching from the normally negligible effort. _'I'm damn sure of it now… This fog has to be loaded with somethin','_ he thought. _'I've barely been able to move since that fight.'_

Slowly, he edged his way over another couple of stairs. With a startled realization, he noticed that the damnable fog seemed to be lifting… _'Hot damn! Good luck! Finally!'_

His enthusiasm was cut short, however, with the jingling sound of a small bell. And he looked up to see the damn nutbar that he had been hunting smiling down on him from the head of the stairs like he had been waiting the entire time. "Welcome to my castle, Mister Red. You just made it through my fog labyrinth. Was it cool?"

Gojyo felt some of the effects of the drug wearing off and hefted himself up slightly. "Cool?" he said rhetorically, venom in his tone. "Yeah, sure. If by 'cool' you meant 'ass-sucking'," he bit out, his eyes darting all over the place while trying to stay nominally focused on the bastard. A castle… he was at a fucking temple-like castle. Great. "Look," he said, deciding that _now_ was a good time to get answers. "God, psychopath—I don't care what the hell you are. I dragged myself here so I could kill your cosplaying ass."_'Literally 'dragged' on that last leg,'_ he thought sourly.

The fruitcake actually seemed surprised. "Really? Hm. All right, Mister." And for a moment he paused. "But why are you so angry?"

* * *

Snowcrash is a book about an engineered virus in a futuristic world being distributed like a drug. I do not remember the details as it has been a while since I listened to the book on CD, but it was fairly good I thought.

* * *

**MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:**

_Volume 8: Chapter 44: Rabbits_

_Volume 8: Chapter 45: Chase_

_Volume 8: Chapter 46: Don't Cry_

* * *

Please Review!!!!! 


	21. XIX: Demon Lord of Karanda

**Disclaimer** I own this particular volume of Saiyuki, but I do not own anything resembling Saiyuki's copyrights. Please don't sue me!

* * *

**Reviews**

**In general, I am sorry it took so long to update, but my life has been hectic and I haven't had much time to just write. To tell the truth, I had a very bad weekend. My great-grandmother (aged 92) passed away. She had had a good life. Even survived breast cancer! Her final day was spent with family and very happy. When she went, we think it was quick. I'll be unable to go to the funeral as it is in Missouri and that's 18 hours away by car and I don't have the money or vacation to spend on that kind of venture.**

**On the upside, I did have wonderful news concerning my paycheck and my tax return.**

**To these things - in memoriam of my Granny and in thanking God for my luck with money - I dedicate this chapter. **

Ghost Girl Sora, thanks for the congrats. It should only take three months for everything to be done. Hopefully. Where are you from? And Kami-sama will be turning up this chapter. I look forward to meeting Hazel, too. I was irritated the moment I met him, especially with his fake Southern accent. We don't sound like that, all country-like! We sound hick instead! XD

SakuraEmma29, thank you, and I won't be having children just yet. We want to see more of America and stuff like that before we settle down with some kids. And I really can't judge myself, even, as my uncle proposed to my aunt in the first week of knowing her. And they've been married over twenty years now!

Gokushereticalgirl, yes, poor Goku.

KittyPersona, I hope my marriage works out, too. And the skit was totally random. But it is true what I said. Thoughts are the basis of all things physical.

PhantomoftheBasket, being a wife is currently very lonely and frustrating and doesn't feel like I'm married at all considering he's on the other side of the ocean. I try and talk to him every day, though. Definitely twice a weekend. And it is good that at least you've read it. Now you know what's going on in reality.

A Reviewer, of course Ana would see past his barriers. She's a softy for hard-asses and the motives that drive them. I put some of me in her, after all, and I absolutely adore Dr. House from House. And with Gojyo's mom, that was almost verbatim, how it went. Gojyo is such an amazing character, it is amazing I didn't like him right off. But I think the pervert thing got me before I learned more of his past. As for Sanzo painting on Ana... he'd refuse because it would be a serious blood rush to certain parts of his body he does not want getting blood rushes to. And I'm sure you understand what I mean. He's still in denial, you know.

White Fire Alchemist, thanks for the congrats!

Fujiwara Kumiko, I don't believe the thing about '-dono' is entirely correct. On several occasions in the manga (translated by Tokyo Pop), Hakkai calls Yaone 'Yaone-dono' and in Rurouni Kenshin the manga, Kenshin calls Kaoru 'Kaoru-dono'. It is a sign of respect, yes, but I think it means something more along the lines of 'Miss', 'Madame' or 'Mister' when attached to a name. Thanks, though, for paying attention to subtle things I try to include. It makes me happy when someone can see the phrasing of the story and pick out the quiet jokes-slash-subtle-details.

Holy.priestess, I try so hard to keep them all in character, Ana as well. And it is hard to make them all revolve around each other instead of just around Ana. Thank you for saying my story is one of the best you have read. I appreciate it very much.

Silver-eyed, it is easy enough incorporating Ana as there is so much room for her. Having her interact suitably gets a bit harder. And you will see what Ana does to Kami-sama.

Twilight-to-Nightfall, don't worry about writing as good. You have no idea how many unfinished, unpolished stories I have on my computer. They are jarring and idiotic for the most part. This story has actually been a personal diamond in the rough and I've been slowly polishing it. Just keep stabbing at it and maybe you finally get a good story (in your eyes) pieced together! And remember, an artist is always more critical of their own work than others are.

Miorochi, soon enough. The whole point of A Seriously Messed-Up Series is the two of them getting together and they will be getting together soon enough.

Bluestocking, thank you for the congratulations, and Turkey was awesome. In one shot I visited both Asia and Europe! And the scene in the beginning was in the manga. I don't have the anime series. I actually hate it with a fiery passion because it is so screwed up. Minekura had no hand at all in it! And I have fun with this lot more than what's probably legal.

Jaganshi Mori, glad you liked the word 'befuddled'. I read so many books, especially magic-slash-fantasy books, most people go 'huh' when I accidentally say a phrase that hasn't been used in years. Even my parents, just as big of fantasy readers as I am, will look at me weird. Thank you for your congrats and in time you'll find the right one. Have no fear.

**As a general note: I had been told about how my italics steal the spaces either before or after the italicized word. And I had tried to ensure that this didn't happen last chapter. However, even with me trying to do so, a couple of places got marred due to the extraordinary habit FF has of stealing spaces. If you would do me a favor and not worry to much about this. I know I put the spaces in and the stupid things get eaten when next to an italicized word. Forgive me so very much.**

* * *

**Chapter XIX: Demon Lord of Karanda**

((In honour of my great grandmother who passed away on Saturday, the first of March, 2008, after having a lovely day with her daughter and granddaughter and her great-grandchildren before her sudden and quick passing on. May she have an eternal place at the Lord Almighty's table and be with all that she loves. Even now, I hear a bell ring and know she has gained her wings. I love you, Granny. God bless you. Your granddaughter, _Nikki_))

Ana was aware of one thing. Her legs were shaking. They felt like they were jelly. And the reason they were like jelly was the fact that she was hiking up the longest damn staircase she had ever run across even in the worst of luck. Oh… and she was aware of the sweat. The sweat rolling down her face and down Sanzo's face but seemed to be missing on Goku's and Hakkai's faces. Bastard youkai assholes… Especially Goku. He was ahead of all of them.

"Are you two alive over there?" Hakkai said without much panting as he kept pace with them for none of them had Goku's exuberant energy and could keep pace with him as he bounded up the stairs, half-concealed by the strange fog that had rolled in somewhere between the fiftieth and hundredth steps.

Sanzo took the opportunity to bitch. "First the barrier from hell. Then the mountain with no trail. And now, we have the fucking icing on the cake—the longest damn staircase known to the entirety of mankind."

Ana, on the other hand, had no energy to bitch. Not even really to think. Revise that thought… One leg gave out from underneath her and her knee hit the stone. No energy to move really.

"Ow…" she said a moment later, like there wasn't even enough energy in her system to make the sound for pain the moment she felt it. Hakkai paused, looking over his shoulder, and was about to turn back to her but stopped as she stood again, albeit a bit unsteadily, and started walking again, her breaths coming in pants.

"Are you okay, Ana-dono?" he asked, concerned.

She grunted in return and moved up the stairs again as her eyes were glazed over and focused on the steps yet to come. Hakkai sighed internally. The girl wasn't even thinking. She was on autopilot.

"You guys!" called back Goku, looking back to the lollygaggers and surprised at how far they were. "Hurry up!"

"Shut your trap!" snared Sanzo where he lagged further behind Hakkai and Ana lagged even further behind him. "We're not _all_ jocks!"

Suddenly Sanzo's attention was garnered by Hakkai. "Odd," said the demon, pausing to wipe the minimal sweat off his brow. "There's something not quite right about this fog," he mused.

"What?" demanded Sanzo, looking up at him. He really didn't want any more complications.

"This fog… I doubt it is natural. We'd better be careful. We may already be in Kami-sama's hands."

"Wonderful," bit out Sanzo.

Goku, still far in the lead, noticed something up ahead and froze in his steps as the others came up behind him. Ana, noticing the break, came out of her muscular atrophied haze and dropped her hands to her knees as she gasped for breath. She was not, it might be noted, the most muscular of people. This trip had toughened her up considerably but she still was not a tri-athlete by any stretch of the imagination.

The fog cleared slightly from the figure. And everyone immediately froze in shock, surprise… and unknown to the figure… increasing anger.

"…Woah," Gojyo said, coming down the steps, hands in his pockets like he had nothing better to do other than walk down the steps. And his expression was of surprise as his walk down the stairs paused mid-step.

"Gojyo!" yelped Goku in definite shock.

"Son of a bitch!" exclaimed the kappa as he began to walk down the steps to them again. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Goku immediately began stomping up the steps towards him. "What kinda question's that?!" said the irritated, infuriated chimp. "Why're _you_ out here and where's that crazy god guy?!"

Gojyo gave an infuriatingly smug grin. "Glad you asked. I just schooled the little turd. That's what he gets for messin' with Gojyo. Boom!" laughed the kappa.

By this point, Ana's brain was functioning on a higher level than 'lift foot, place foot on higher place, pull self forward, repeat' and her legs weren't shaking too bad. Sanzo seemed to be fairly recovered as well.

"Anyway," continued the kappa as he continued past Goku and towards Hakkai and the two humans, not seeing the change of expression on Goku's face. "Let's scram. There's nothing left to do here."

"…Gojyo," Goku said, garnering the red-head's attention.

"Yeah?" asked the kappa, turning in slight surprise only to be walloped in the head by Goku's fist, which sent him crashing to the ground. The surprise attack had completely caught him off guard and as such, he yelped. "What th'—" he managed to utter before yelping in pain again as Hakkai's foot came down on his hand, crushing his fingers.

"I'm surprised you _dare_ to come back as if nothing had ever happened. Do you think us fools? Hm?" Hakkai asked with a deceptively sweet smile.

"Ha-Hakkai?" Gojyo asked, not understanding exactly what was going on.

"If you dare think we dragged ourselves here to get you, you're out of your goddamn flea-sized brain," Sanzo added, coming forward as his gun was cocked and leveled at his head. "Do you have any idea how much effort you made us waste?"

"W-wait!" gasped Gojyo, looking at the one person that hadn't threatened him yet. "Ana?! Get these guys off my back! What the hell is wrong wi--?!" He failed in his words as he saw her body arc dangerously with lavender lightning.

"You make us worry like hell, make everybody fucking antsy as hell, and then decided to try and put _me_ between a bunch of angry guys who I happen to _agree with_. You're out of your goddamn mind, just as Sanzo said!" the Latina said, her eyes flat and expression dangerous as the arcs gathered up into her hand. "I'd say we have your ass barbecued, no?" she continued in a cheerful manner laced with poison.

"_Time to take it out of your goddamn kappa hide_," snarled Sanzo as the lot of them advanced, ready to pulverize him with very eager looks on their faces.

Gojyo's expression was highly confused, not comprehending… not understanding anything other than the fact he was in deep shit. "…Wha? Hang on a—" His words were cut short as Sanzo fired a single round, jerking to one side and barely missing the bullet as it imbedded itself into the stone near his head, yelping out as he did so.

"Stop squirming and you'll die peacefully," Sanzo said simply, though the idea of a struggle and making it more painful for Gojyo was a highly appealing notion.

"Shit!" exclaimed Gojyo, jerking his hand out from under Hakkai's foot and summoning Shakujou with the other, sending them back a bit to dodge the half-efforted swing of one of the blades.

"Oy! Asshole! Watch the fuckin' blade!" snapped Ana as Goku echoed her sentiment, but in cleaner terms.

"Get talking!" rapped out Gojyo, holding the blade in defensive. "How'd you know I'm a fake?!"

The group paused, considering the situation. They had believed him to be for real, but this… imposter… just said he was a fake Gojyo. What the hell?

So that meant… he wasn't their target.

"Whatever—It doesn't matter!" snapped out the Gojyo-duplicate. "Wanna get past?! You'll have to kill me first!" His voice carried an almost maniacal laughing tone to it as he raised the duplicate Shakujou to bring down on Goku's head, the boy conjuring Nyoi-bo in defense and blocking him. To Goku, fighting someone that hadn't even angered him or was truly trying to kill him (despite the fact he wanted to kill the bastard who's face the duplicate wore), he really didn't want to fight. And so, at that point, Hakkai offered good advice.

"Goku!" he called. "If it helps to inspire you, pretend he's the real one!"

"Good call!" chirped the chimp.

"Huh?" asked the confused doppelganger as Goku's effort was suddenly much stronger.

"This garbage is all your fault!" he yelled in the double's face before overpowering him and throwing him back with a surprised yelp. "Sanzo's all pissy, Hakkai's frickin' scary, Ana's not even nice ta me… an' I spent th' afternoon gettin' painted on!"

Gojyo tumbled to rest at Ana's feet, who was looking decidedly murderous. "And that's not even the half of it," she said calmly as she planted her foot into his chest and sent electric current through his body, making him arch in pain as he screamed, his eyes wide. "You have any idea how much your stupidity in running off has fucked things over? Let me enlighten you… in something other than General Electric light bulb style." She lifted her foot, giving him a break for the moment. "It's hard to stand _any one of their presences_ because all they're fucking concerned about is how_wrong_ it feels not having you around. Goku, I tell ya… stops making sense the moment you're out of fucking earshot to tease and fight with him. Way to go, asshole." She turned slightly. "Oy, Hakkai. I think you've got somethin' ta say?" she said 'lightly' as she stepped on the duplicate's chest, shocking him once more as she forced the lightning past the rubber of her boots, and rolling him back behind her to the waiting green-eyed demon.

Hakkai took her offer and kindly grabbed the fake by the arm and pulled the appendage back into a very awkwardly strained position. "Thank you, Ana-dono," he said to her with a smile before turning one that screamed _merde_ onto the prone form, twitching in pain. "Really, she is quite right. Besides that point, the next time you feel the need to desert, please refrain from doing so. Am I quite clear?" He smiled eerily as he twisted the arm, firmly breaking it as the fake screamed out in pain. "I suppose so," he said 'benignly' as blood and bone protruded-slash-spurted from the wound. "I believe it is your turn now, Sanzo," he said then, making a by-your-leave gesture towards Gojyo while smiling at the pissed priest.

The response he got was the sound of a hammer being pulled back. "This is like that fantasy I keep having," Sanzo said in a chill voice, his mouth turned upwards in a sadistically pleased grin as flat eyes pinned the in-pain wannabe-kappa to the spot just as the threat of a gunshot. "_I get to pull the trigger on you rage-inspiring face_. How nice when dreams come true… Isn't it?"

"Wait! P-please!" cried the terrified fake."Can't we—" Whatever he was going to plea for was lost in the gunshot that pierced between his eyes, making him crumble into red beads that clacked and popped on the stone steps as they rolled into tiny depressions and settled either nearby or far away down the stair.

"Hmph…" Hakkai said, putting his hands on his hips and then sighing in a very unsatisfied manner. "No… no. That certainly was far from satisfying. At least the real thing would have fought back just a bit." He clucked his tongue.

"Man… I got hungry for nuthin'," whined Goku, slumping slightly.

Ana grinned. "At least that got my brain working again!" she said cheerfully. "And it was kinda therapeutic, no?"

"Yes. 'Kind of' therapeutic. It would have been better if it had actually been Gojyo, though," Hakkai replied.

"All right," Sanzo said impatiently. "Rehearsal's over. _Let's kill ourselves something genuine_."

"And even more therapeutic!" chirped Ana, feeling loads better but still wanting to try the Cockroach dance on a certain Cockroach's balls.

And with that, the four of them continued up the stairs… looking for a real red-head that they wanted to murder.

* * *

Meanwhile, the red-head they were searching for was trying to play punch the fruit loop but was failing miserably as his fists didn't ever seem to land on the freak. "Stop… moving!" snarled the stubbly cockroach as yet another aimed punch missed by mere centimeters.

Kami-sama vanished and landed on a nearby pillar. "Hey," came the 'cutely' confused voice of the 'attack-ee'. "Why aren't you using your weapon?" he asked, cocking his head slightly, irritating Gojyo in the 'imitation' of Ana's own head-cock.

"'Cause I know you'll just turn into beads," replied Gojyo in the least-pissed, most spunky-slash-smart-ass tone he could muster. "Besides," he continued with a smirk. "It feels a lot better cramming my fist into your gut."

"Hee hee!" laughed Kami-sama. "So this is kinda like tag, right?" he asked with a wide grin, liking this 'game'. "Okay! If you can touch me, you win!" chirped the strange man.

"…However the hell you wanna do it," Gojyo replied, pissed by the guy's carefree attitude. He lifted his foot and slammed it into the pillar Kami-sama stood on. "Just lose the damn attitude, you crazy ass prick!" he snarled as the entire pillar crumbled into chunks.

He missed and Kami-sama laughed delightedly. "Ha ha! You're strong _and_ dumb!" The guy landed lightly with a tap of his sandal on the stone as Gojyo spun on heel and lunged at him. Kami-sama threw himself backwards, stopping before the doors of his castle and sing-songed: "Missed me, missed me! Ha ha!"

Gojyo swung again and Kami-sama vanished once again, appearing behind him. Gojyo's momentum would have sent him crashing into the metal doors, but they swung open, letting him tumble end over end and skid along his back into the interior of the castle. The kappa rolled to his feet as Kami-sama's voice rang out once again in a very 'tut-tut' manner.

"And you're not very polite. When you enter someone's home, you're supposed to say, 'I humbly intrude'."

"Stop with the running and the fucking lectures and _fight_, dammit!" cried out Gojyo.

"Hm… you sure?" asked Kami-sama as his entire demeanor changed to a dark one. "You'll die, you know," came the words as the beads draping his form suddenly took on life of their own and shot forward at a high speed to pierce his gut and leg in several places.

Gojyo couldn't help but gasp and blood came to his lips, coughed up with bile, as he fell to the floor from the force of the beads. "Nngh…" he groaned._'They're too fast. I can't… dodge!'_

However, the beads weren't done with him yet as they lifted up and threw him.

"Awwww… I told you so," came Kami-sama's voice as he gasped for breath. The madman gripped a strand of the ceaseless seeming beads , pulling it loose from Gojyo's pain wracked body. A moan escaped from the kappa's lips, but he laid there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. "Are you broken already?" asked the freak as he edged closer to inspect the still half-demon. Gojyo took the opportunity to lash out at him with his foot, forcing Kami-sama away in surprise. "Ha ha ha!" he laughed once he had recovered from his surprise. "You're pretty durable after all! I like this game! Can we play some more?"

"Listen to me, you little snot," gasped Gojyo as he sat up, his expression dark as he folded his arms over his stomach to try and stem the flow of blood. "I don't give a rat's ass what you are. Just tell me something! What the _hell_ would possess you to turn kids into murderers… just so you can kill them whenever they're done?!"

A look of confusion showed on Kami-sama's face for a moment before dawning comprehension overtook him. "Oh. I see. The little boys, right?" He smiled as he glanced off to one side, as though it meant nothing to him… and it really didn't. "I wanted a few new toys. I sent them to get some for me. They were _mine_."

That wasn't quite the answer Gojyo expected and he just stared at him for a long moment. But the moment was broken as Kami-sama continued.

"And I can do whatever I want to what's mine," he grinned.

"Grr…" snarled Gojyo as he stood. "Burn in hell, you psycho!" he shouted as he attempted to lunge forward, however his progress was almost immediately halted by the sudden presence of Kami-sama's beads around his neck, grasping and strangling as he was lifted up in the air.

"Come on, Mister Red," Kami-sama said as Gojyo gagged for air. "Be my toy. You're tough and so _totally_ fun. You'll become one of my favorites for sure!"

Gojyo gagged, grasping at the beads to pull them loose, but to no avail.

However, a gunshot cracked off and broke the chain of beads holding him aloft much to both his and Kami-sama's shock… though Gojyo felt more relief.

"W-what just…" gasped Gojyo even as Kami-sama turned to look at what had caused the disturbance. Standing in the doorway of the castle stood four rather pissed individuals all holding rather hostile poses as they observed the scene.

"Tch," came the voice of someone that Gojyo thought he'd be glad to hear as he turned to behold Sanzo and the others. "You pathetic little tart," spat Sanzo.

"B-but…" came Gojyo's confused reply.

Goku pushed past Sanzo and delivered a kick to a rather stunned Gojyo's jaw right before the rest of them joined in on the one-step Hokey Pokey… Put your favorite foot in and stomp the roach as said roach yelps in pain and protest as he tries to protect his head. It's all the rage currently. "Hey! Ow! What're you—Agh!" He threw his arms out to knock their legs away before clutching at his cranium in pain. "Stop it, goddamnit!" he yelled in shock. "What in the hell is_wrong_ with you all?!"

Now that their anger had been settled down to a slow simmer for the moment, Hakkai observed their surroundings with a cool air and said, "'What', indeed. Didn't I warn you that using cans as ashtrays will earn you retribution?" The green-eyed youkai smiled at Gojyo in a half-way playful smirk.

"…Right. Sorry," smirked back Gojyo.

The four irate Ikkou members stepped in front of Gojyo in an almost protective gesture. "Hate to rain on your parade," Sanzo said flatly. "But the disposal of this waste of skin is rightfully ours."

"Um… Crap," murmured Gojyo.

"And you'd better be quiet or else," murmured Ana to the kappa in a low tone, gaining a startled look from him.

"We'd appreciate you not moving in on our territory," Sanzo continued.

Kami-sama just began to smirk and it began to slowly become a grin. "No, no," he refused. "You can't do that. I'm not handing over my new toy." The 'God' watched them in amusement as they gained similar 'you're fucking with the wrong person' looks.

"If you will _kindly_ recall, no one 'handed over' Gojyo in the first place," Hakkai said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest and his false smile vapor on the wind.

"Damn straight!" said Ana, placing her hands on her hips.

"So take that!" barked out Goku, trying to sound tough as he lifted a threatening fist.

"Hey!" protested Gojyo, not liking this arguing over his own life and hide. "I'm_killing_ this girly punk, got that?!" he snapped out as he continued to clutch at profusely bleeding wounds. "You think I'd just leave after coming this far and saying 'I humbly intrude'?!"

"Bah. You were losing when we saved your sorry ass," Sanzo said, not even looking at him and gaining an angry look that he happened to have missed coming from Gojyo behind his back.

Goku's knuckles cracked as he popped them. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Less talkie and more fightie!"

Gojyo was falling back into his old rhythms as he felt it was a good idea to insert a wisecrack at the monkey. "Aw… the little monkey's talking tough! How cute!"

"Shaddup, ya hairy, stubbly cockroach!" bit out Goku, over his shoulder as Gojyo grinned.

"Speaking of stubble," Ana smirked. "Did you know you have one piss-poor beard started there? All you got is a couple dozen hairs growing in. Talk about scraggly. And wimpy."

"You callin' me wimpy?!" growled Gojyo, whipping around to glare at her even though she continued to smirk, tapping her fingers of her right hand on her hip.

"Somethin' like that, I suppose. But you said it, not me."

"Ah! It's good to be back together!" laughed Hakkai, tucking a hand into his pocket.

"I'm astounded by the stupidity," bit out Sanzo, not enjoying the byplay between the girl and her friends.

The playing was cut short at the sound of a giggle that was unfamiliar to them but recently. It then turned into a full blown laugh and they turned to see Kami-sama laughing his ass off at something… likely them.

"…What's so funny?" 'asked' Sanzo.

Kami-sama wiped away a tear of amusement even as he explained. "You guys are great! You really think you can beat me!" He dropped his hand away from his face and pressed the fingertips of his hands together before him. "But you're all so _very_ weak!" he continued, smiling widely still. "You'd never beat me in a million years."

The five of them watched the fruitcake warily as Gojyo got to his feet with the assistance of Hakkai and Goku, both of them having trained narrowed eyes upon Kami-sama, as had Ana. Only she was facing him and just a bit behind Sanzo.

"You! Mister Blondie!" Kami-sama said, calling Sanzo's attention to his words as he was the only 'Mister Blondie'. "You're a Sanzo priest, right?"

"What's it to you?" Sanzo asked acidly.

"You really shouldn't bother. You're not worthy of the job," Kami-sama said.

Wrong thing to tell a priest with an itchy trigger finger who's already mad at you. Sanzo fired three shots off, forcing the freak to dodge, an insanely happy grin still on his face. Note the use of the word 'insane' there.

He laughed before speaking again, landing a bit of a distance away. "Ooh, now he's mad! Does that mean I'm right?" he asked 'rhetorically'.

"Tch!" bit out Sanzo as Goku threw himself towards Kami-sama, summoning Nyoi-Bo as he did so. "Eat this!"

He missed and created a large crater in the wall instead.

"Wow," said the one he had intended to turn into a crater, effectively startling the chimp. "I'm glad I dodged that."

"Goku! Get down!" shouted Hakkai as he charged up his chi. Goku obligingly ducked as a blast of chi destroyed the already weakened wall… and Kami-sama with it, according to all visuals.

However, a moment later…

A sandaled foot stepped on the rubble of the wall. "Darn," he said with a pout on his face. "I hope you're planning to pay for that."

"Fuck you!" snapped out Ana, as she charged her own lightning and actually, through her anger, shot off a bolt of lightning at him.

Naturally, the bastard dodged to one side, looking at the passing energy with surprise. "Lightning in my own house. Weird." He looked at her and wagged a finger. "That's not very lady-like language," he tutted her.

"How?" she murmured, surprised he dodged what was one of her fastest attacks. Second time she had done that and… he had dodged it!

"Stop _running_, you pussy!" snarled Gojyo, not liking the fact that all Kami-sama seemed to be doing is mock them.

"That's not very fair—You're fighting me five on one," Kami-sama replied, looking affronted that Gojyo had even 'suggested' that he stop playing around.

"Quit talkin' an' show us what ya got!" Goku said, very pissed. "Cuz we wanna _real_ fight!" As he said that, the group sans Sanzo threw themselves forward to hit him with everything they had.

Kami-sama smiled as some odd device formed in his head. "I guess I'd better," he sighed. "But just a little, okay?" He moved it in a somewhat slashing motion…

And the next thing they knew was their bodies wracked with pain, their advance stopped, the blood running from suddenly painful areas of their body…

And themselves landing roughly in various positions, blood coming from their mouths as their expressions showed their shock. Hakkai himself slammed into the base of a wall as the rest of them hit the floor on their backs.

"There. Are you happy now?" asked Kami-sama as he tossed the strange weapon up in the air before catching it again, widely grinning despite the pain filled gasps, hacks, and coughs of the Sanzo-Ikkou filling the air as their brains realized the pain their bodies were in and to clear the fluid in their mouths.

The pain was unbelievable. All their faces were contorted and Ana, whom had never felt such _pain_ could do nothing more than gasp and cry a river of tears as her head laid 'conveniently' in the direction of a gasping and blood-hacking Sanzo, who's own eyes were wide with the unbelievable pain. Ana was aware of the blood running into her own mouth and the coughs she produced to clear the fluid, forming a trickle from the corner of her mouth that was closest to the floor. It hurt… so much. She knew the others must be feeling the same…

Suddenly Goku began to writhe, clutching at one of the wounds as he screamed. "Oh, boy," mused Kami-sama as he stepped over to the disabled chimp. "There must still be a bead inside you. You poor thing," he said to him, reaching out a 'sympathetic' hand to 'lend' assistance. The hand bit into already painful flesh and dug inside the wound, causing truly agonized screams to be heard from the second-youngest's mouth.

"Goku…!" gasped Sanzo, incapable of getting up.

"There you go! Don't worry. I got it!" chirped Kami-sama, removing his hand and revealing a bloodied bead. He stood and stepped away from the bloodied floor around Goku. "Did you think you could win if you attacked me together?" he asked, walking over to Sanzo. "I feel bad for weak people who think they're strong."

Sanzo could sense the danger was worse than it seemed at that moment. He watched as the bastard stepped over Ana's prone form, the girl's breathing coming in pained hacking gasps. _'Get away from her!'_ he thought, struggling to move and finding himself incapable of doing anything more than roll over as pain bit harshly into his body._'Fuck! I can't move! He must have gone for the joints.'_

"I'm guessing that's the way you are," Kami-sama mused, kneeling down next to the priest. "You know—Rushing into things like you have a chance," he continued conversationally, kneeling down next to Sanzo's gasping form as he crossed his arms. "Hey. Do you know what _muichimotsu_ is?" It caused Sanzo to pause in his breath from the shock though he was forced to hack an instant later. "My sensei told me about it," Kami-sama continued. "'If you meet Buddha, kill him. If you meet the patriarchs, kill them. Free of all, bound by nothing…' Have you heard of that? It means you should keep from getting trapped by desires." He smiled in a reminiscent manner. "I think you're all too attached. You want to live… and you want to win."

Sanzo was still stuck on the fact that he had uttered the words of his master through a haze of pain.

"That's what I mean," Kami-sama said decisively as he unfolded his arms and reached out his left hand to grasp the sutra about Sanzo's shoulders with a more gleeful smile. "You're a bad priest. The title of _Sanzo_'s not for people like you," he continued as he lifted the sutra free of the priest's shoulders much to Sanzo's horrified shock. It forced him into movement, grasping his gun and lifting it to aim at the thieving freak, but his effort was cut short by a vicious kick to his chin, sending him into the air and back onto his back. He hit the ground, blood spattering.

"I bet it's weird for you. Dying in a place like this, I mean," Kami-sama pressed on, placing the sutra about his shoulders with a flourish. "Everyone's like that. They think that they're ready for death, but when it comes time, they still resist." He laughed. "I bet you don't want to die. What a pathetic way to go."

Sanzo couldn't move. He hurt way too damn much as he faded in and out of consciousness.

Noticing the lack of attention, Kami-sama looked at his 'audience'. "Hm… maybe you can't hear me anymore. Anyway," he said as he stepped forward to put a foot on Sanzo's head to crush it in.

Ana watched, her eyes wide still as she watched in shock. _'Sanzo…!'_ she thought desperately, watching him make no move to force Kami-sama off of him as the freak bore down on his head.

"Goodbye, Honorable Priest Sanzo-kun," grinned the bastard, but his exultation was cut short by the sudden presence of Shakujou's chain around his foot, jerking him off balance. The next thing Kami-sama knew was being thrown into the rubble of the wall. The cause of the attack walked forward unsteadily as his shoulder spurted blood, his hand trying to stopper it. "G-go to hell… you piss-drinking fuck!" he spat, his face contorted in determination and pain.

"Woah—" said a startled-but-recovering-from-the-shock Kami-sama as he stood. "You surprised me! But I guess you can't underestimate even an insect's will to live. Cool."

Gojyo froze in shock._'He's not even scratched!'_

"But I'm sure it was all you could do to get up," he mused. "Hm…" At that moment, he gathered a fist of chain and said some kind of Buddhist spell. Suddenly, the chain that had been coiled around Kami-sama's leg was now tightening around Gojyo's arm. Suddenly, he hauled back and yanked Gojyo off balance to hit the floor. "You should've gone to sleep like a good little boy," Kami-sama continued, nodding to himself in an agreeing manner. "Don't you think?" he asked of Gojyo as the kappa gasped in pain, coughing bloody spittle again. "'Bad children must be punished', right?"

"Son of a—" gasped Gojyo as he struggled to his feet again to try and attack again, but suddenly froze in surprise as Kami-sama began to shout in surprise and annoyance.

"Hey!" he cried as Hakuryuu clawed and flapped in his face, chirping angrily. "Ow! What the heck is—Ow!"

"Jeep?!" cried out a startled Gojyo.

"Kyuuuu!" Jeep called, angry that this man had hurt his friends.

"Jeep! Transform!" called Gojyo, bringing the tiny dragon away from Kami-sama and to a clear area of the floor, the kappa already moving to gather up Goku and Hakkai. Once the dragon transformed, he threw the two unconscious souls haphazardly into the back seat before moving as fast as he could to grab Sanzo and Ana, slinging them too into the car's interior.

"What do you think you're doing?" cried Kami-sama, not understanding the motions clearly enough.

"What does it look like, asshole?!" snarled back Gojyo as he threw himself into the driver's seat. "_I'm running the fuckin' hell away!_"

Jeep's tires spun and the car launched forward through the doors of the castle, Kami-sama vainly trying to stop them at the door of the castle itself. They got to the head of the stairs and Gojyo directed Jiipu to drive down the stairs.

"No fair!" cried Kami-sama, pursuing them still, much to Gojyo's horror. Hakkai, whom had gathered enough consciousness to him during the whole thing of being thrown into the car. He reared up and threw his hands into the air, aiming a chi blast at Kami-sama and forcing the man back.

"Hakkai!" shouted a startled Gojyo, not expecting the help from the backseat.

"K-keep driving!" gasped Hakkai, slumping down again, his face visibly a bloody mess as he cast a look over his shoulder to aim the words to Gojyo.

"Right!" said the kappa as he punched it.

Behind them, Kami-sama laughed like the crazy he was and cried out gleefully, "Scaredy cats! You _scaredy cats_!"

And they ran as fast as they could, scared, wounded, and praying he wouldn't come after him. They managed to get back to town late that night, all of them near-dead. The inn they had stayed at before was luckily still open and when the barkeep had seen the condition they all were in immediately gave them a pair of rooms and called the doctor to patch them up.

They had been beaten… and bad.

* * *

It was a couple of days later.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

Gojyo was flipping open and shutting his lighter as he could do nothing more than wait and pray the painkiller didn't give out and leave him in even more pain than he was currently feeling.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

He was covered in bandages. Bandages on his chest and abdomen. Bandages on his shoulder. Bandages on his arms and legs.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

Hakkai, was patched up and incapable from moving at the bed at the moment. Depression weighed heavily on him, knowing that he could have done more.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

Goku was sulking somewhere, amazingly durable and currently hiding out away from the rest of them.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

Ana seemed to be inexhaustible when it came to tears for several days but was currently out at the moment. She had dragged herself into the same room Sanzo laid still and unconscious in. And just laid there with her face towards him, taking minimal comfort in the unconscious form still breathing just across from her in the tiny room.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

She didn't want to close her eyes and go to sleep. She had only caught snippets ever now and then, but had woken in a fright, scaring Gojyo himself by her frantic efforts to get to Sanzo, trying to make sure Sanzo hadn't died while she wasn't paying attention.

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

And Sanzo had yet to awaken. He had been injured very badly, both physically and mentally. And…

Flip open the lighter. Close it with a _kachink_.

He gripped the lighter tightly. _'Fuck,'_ he thought to himself as the edges and engravings of the lighter pressed harshly into his palm.

The door opened to his room slowly and the hesitant voice of the barkeep came to him as the man stepped into the room. "Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Hi, barkeep," Gojyo said, ignoring the greeting question.

"You should get some rest, you know. You lost a lot of blood just like the others."

Gojyo snorted in self-derisive, black humor. "I'll live. By the way, sorry for all the trouble," he told the man. "This was the only place open late."

The barkeep walked further into the room to check on the room's other occupant, Hakkai. "Heh," he huffed. "I'll admit I was scared when you all came in bloody like you were. I'm glad to help so make yourselves at home. Ever since you knocked out those hoodlums the other day, our town's been rather peaceful." He sighed. "Still, though… I'm worried about that priest. He's been out for four days now. I know he needs his rest, but the doctor did say that if he didn't wake up tonight, there's a strong chance he won't ever wake up again."

"That's not very good news," Hakkai said, lifting an injured arm and hand to examine in a dreary mood. "I wish I could have helped sooner. Unfortunately, my condition would not have permitted that."

"Forget about it," Gojyo said with a black grin. "Your healing power uses up way too much damn chi. When you're injured, it could kill you and you know that."

Hakkai sighed and dropped his arm. "How Goku?" he asked, changing the subject.

Gojyo sighed as he ruffled his hair. "Pissed. Worse than either of us. The little dingbat won't let us treat him. And when we tried, he freaked out and fought back. He won't even talk to us… or even eat." He snorted. "How's _that_ for taking it hard?"

"He's reacting like a wounded animal. Don't worry too much. Goku's strong and this is perhaps the first absolute defeat he has experienced… And what about Ana-dono?" asked Hakkai.

"She almost didn't let us treat her either, because she was more worried about Sanzo." Gojyo looked at Hakkai over on the bed in bemusement. "Did you know the two have a thing for each other?"

"I knew Ana-dono did," admitted Hakkai. "She told me so herself back during that incident in the desert. And I suspected Sanzo did as well by the way he acted. What happened?"

"I had to guilt trip her. Sanzo'll get pissed if you don't let the doc patch you up," responded Gojyo, loosening his grip on the lighter and examining the impressions on his hand. "She's scared to death he'll die while she's asleep. She won't let herself sleep too long. Bastard needs to admit his goddamn feelings and get with her. It's tearing both of them up… And I hate seeing Ana-kun upset."

Hakkai could do or say nothing more to that than sigh.

"So… an absolute defeat, huh?" asked Gojyo, turning it back to what Hakkai had said earlier.

"We really lost, Gojyo. Really," Hakkai said with a blackly-amused grin on his face. Gojyo sat for a moment considering the situation before there was the sound of strangled yelling and thumps made themselves known to them, causing the introspective barkeep and Gojyo to turn and run to the next room where the noise was originating. Within the room was Sanzo, lashing in his bed as Ana, scared to death, was trying to keep him from falling out of the bed by trying to hold down his shoulders. However, his strength and her fear of hurting him were making the task difficult.

"Sanzo?!" cried Gojyo, rushing over to the bed. "What's wrong?" he demanded of Ana.

"I don't know!" she said, tears running fresh down her face once again as Sanzo bucked under her hands. "He just started thrashing. I think it's a nightmare!"

When Gojyo looked at Sanzo's face, he realized that the priest was also crying. Crying tears of pain as he screamed. He grabbed his legs, forcing them down. "Shit, man. Calm down!" he cried futilely, knowing Sanzo couldn't likely hear him in his unconscious state.

"Hold him down!" ordered the frantic barkeep as he moved from the room. "I'll get a sedative!"

Sanzo continued to cry out, trapped in whatever world he was in.

"Shit! Where the hell's the monkey!" snarled Gojyo to himself. "He should be here!" A glance at Ana was heartbreaking to him. She had offered a few words and now she looked miserable as hell, in pain from both from physical and emotional hurts.

"What's wrong with Sanzo?" asked Hakkai, having managed to get himself into the next room where they were.

"Hakkai?" asked the startled Gojyo, turning. "H-he's fine. Go… Just go back to bed."

Hakkai caved slightly and half leaned over from the strain on his stomach muscles. "…Maybe he's not suffering from physical wounds. You know Sanzo."

Gojyo's eyes widened and looked quickly at Ana as if to see how she would react to such a pronouncement and Hakkai's eyes did much the same realizing what he had said. Ana, for all intent and purposes, didn't seem to have heard them, her eyes so totally trained on the blonde priest's agonized face.

She had no clue how to help him.

And it hurt her so damn bad.

* * *

Meanwhile, trapped in his nightmare, Sanzo was no longer 'Sanzo'. His name was Kouryuu. He was a child. His master was calling him. "Kouryuu! Come over here!"

Dutifully he came and saw a man dressed as a Sanzo standing there with a young boy. Koumyou Sanzo introduced the priest and motioned to the young boy. "He's brought his young disciple with him," said the older man. Kouryuu looked at the boy in some surprise. The boy was holding a doll. A girl's doll.

He held it out, further surprising him. "Here," said the boy. "This is for you."

Kouryuu took the doll as offered… but suddenly the doll fell apart, its head and arm falling off the rest of it, stuffing falling loose. Shocked, Kouryuu watched the doll's head hit the floor but suddenly it wasn't the doll's head. It was his Master's. Shock made him drop the rest of the doll and he looked at his hands in horror. "Wh-wha…" gasped Kouryuu, scared.

"Aw, it broke," said the strange Sanzo's disciple, though he was no longer a child but now Kami-sama. Kouryuu was now no longer Kouryuu but the 'esteemed', bloody Genjyo Sanzo. "Look what you did," Kami-sama said to him, chidingly as Sanzo looked up. Every one of his companions – even Hakuryuu – laid on the ground, pierced by sharpened rods all over… dead. He was kneeling down in shock, looking at the blood on his hands… looking at those around him. And much to his horror, he looked at Ana, several of the sharpened rods pierced her breast and her abdomen, her eyes were closed, her face contorted with pain as she laid pinned next to Goku, who was also before him.

"If you stay weak, everyone will die," Kami-sama told him, coming up behind him. "The title of Sanzo's not for people like you," was his next words as he snatched away the sutra. Sanzo whipped around, bringing up his gun and fired off a shot, but instead of Kami-sama, he shot Koumyou Sanzo, blood flying.

As Kami-sama's laughter filled the air, Sanzo could do nothing more than be consumed by the guilt and the memory of his master protecting him unto his final breath.

Kami-sama smiled knowingly. Koumyou Sanzo, in his dream, didn't face him. Sanzo knew it was not yet time to join him… Another image came of Ana, sitting on a bench with her palms flat against the concrete surface on either side of her and she was facing him, her eyes warm but worried. He felt relief at seeing her unhurt… not dead. She mouthed something and her expressive eyes stayed on him, but he couldn't hear what she had said nor did he understand the words her mouth formed. Her eyebrows knotted together as her worry became greater, her mouth turning down into a frown. She said something else as she lifted a hand out to him, beckoning…

* * *

He awoke, sitting up rapidly as tears fell down his face… as he cried. He dashed the tears with an angry hand before beginning to climb out of the bed, which alerted the ever watchful Ana to his movement. "Sanzo!" she gasped, sitting up herself while ignoring the pain in her stomach for the time being. "Oh, thank god you're okay!" she cried out, but he didn't respond. "Sanzo?" she asked, confused, realizing he was beginning to try and walk out of the room. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her, gasping at the effort it took to walk for him.

"Dude," Gojyo said as he entered the room, having waited in the hallway so he could hear what was happening in both rooms without disturbing the occupants of either. "Did you hear what she said? What the hell are you doing?"

"…Going," gasped Sanzo.

"Hmph. And where are you going?" Gojyo said, irritated suddenly.

"H-he took… what's mine," gasped out Sanzo as he shifted his weight and Ana watched despairingly.

"You can't!" she exclaimed, putting a hand on his arm. "You're hurt too badly right now!"

He threw it off, much to her shock as Gojyo slid down the wall to sit. "Hunh. Fine. Go. That is, if you can.

Sanzo, now steady, glared at the kappa and moved a foot forward but pain flooded his system and he hit the ground in the gut-wrenching shock. Ana went to her knees to help him up, but Gojyo spoke.

"Leave him alone, Ana-kun. Can't you see he wants to do this himself?" he said bitterly. "Let's see if he can go by himself."

Sanzo, recovering from the pain slightly, pushed himself up but couldn't and decided to resort to trying to crawl out of the room. Gojyo didn't really pay attention to him, though he was aware of the priest's progress as he lit up a cigarette and began to smoke it.

"But!" protested Ana, having not gotten back up for her knees felt like they were on fire after having slammed into the tile.

"…" Gojyo didn't respond, but the look on his face when Ana looked at him told her he really didn't want to do this either. She knew why. Sanzo was stubborn and only this way could Gojyo convince him he wasn't up to the challenge of running off. She certainly didn't like it.

It didn't take long for the man to slam his hand on the tiled floor in defeat, incapable of moving forward any further because of the pain and the weakness. Gojyo pushed himself to his feet and grabbed Sanzo's arm, pulling the priest off the floor and onto his shoulder. His own wounds flared up in protest thanks to the pressure and effort. Dragging the disabled priest across the room, he dumped him onto the bed, eliciting a sharp hiss from Sanzo. It was the only sign he gave to having been hurt. The priest laid there for a moment, gasping for breath on his side.

Ana struggled to her own feet and tottered over, Gojyo watching her as she did so. Her eyes were filled with worry and pain as she sat down on the edge of Sanzo's bed, before laying down and burrowing up next to him as a reassurance he was truly awake and there. He froze slightly, the priest did, especially when he heard her sob into his back.

"Please… please… don't go just yet," she said quietly as Gojyo sat down next to the bed, knowing he wasn't intruding. The words pierced the silence. "Not until… you aren't hurt any more. Please?"

He stayed silent even as Gojyo added his own words. "Listen to the girl," he sighed. "Okay?"

* * *

Elsewhere, later that evening after the moon had risen high up into the sky a certain sulking teen punched the wall he was next to, leaving a chipped indent in the material. "Got it," he murmured as he turned and began the long ass walk back to the inn.

((Author's Note: I left quite a bit verbatim, but I tried to diverge as much as possible without throwing everything out of whack. Interesting twists I threw in, yes? Ana's reaction to Sanzo after he woke up was certainly not planned out. But she would be the type to do that. I've got a plan for the mahjong game, as Ana doesn't know how to play. Has everyone noticed how she derives her strength from the others? If she were on her own, she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Ana is strong, but only in a team. Otherwise, she doesn't know what to do next with herself. Kinda… kinda like me.))

Demon Lord of Karanda is book three of a five part series called 'The Mallorean' by David Eddings. It continues after 'The Belgariad' and a few years after the defeat of the dark god Kal Torak. Now, a new threat has arisen and has stolen away Ce'Nedra's first born, sending Belgarion, his wife, and his companions scrambling on a new adventure to save the future king of Riva.

MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 8: Chapter 47: Recreation

Volume 8: Chapter 48: Lose

Volume 8: Chapter 49: Take to Flight


	22. XX: Dealing With Dragons

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Saiyuki. Wish I did, but that'll never happen. So I have to make due with owning Ana.

* * *

**Reviews:**

Sorry for the long time between posts. I haven't felt very creative lately.

DaydreamerMagby, I'm not gone, just currently unmotivated. And I liked that scene, too. XD

Lia, thank you for the condolences. I appreciate them. I'm glad you think I'm good enough to write books, but motivation, as I have mentioned, is a hard thing for me to come by right now with me trying to get everything set up for my husband to come to the U.S.

Estriel, thanks for the compliment! Here's the stuff just for you... and everyone else that reads it!

White Fire Alchemist, I'm glad you like the psychology of the last bit and how it broke them. I hope you like this one where they stand up and are ready to fight.

KittyPersona, sorry about the coughing fit, but I liked that line, too! Kinda just fell out of my hands, honestly, but doesn't it make sense? And so many people digging Sanzo and Ana fun.

Nami, of _course_ Ana worries... It's half the fun of watching their dance!

Shadowluzid, Gojyo, as I believe I spoke of before, uses '-kun' to distinguish that Ana's basically his friend and like a sister rather than potential 'fun in bed' material. I know it's a boyish ending, but I thought it fit how the two got along. It's like an irritating nickname by Gojyo to Ana like a big brother would call a little sister a 'turd' or something. It's affection. And the two should admit. But it is fun to see them dance.

White Raven, the anime series bugged the doggy poo out of me, so I've never watched the movie. In fact, on a rather stupid lark once, I bought the anime series, watched the first three disks, and then sold them all. That's how much I hated them. I might, later on, cross her into something else when I've done everything I'm going to do with her here.

Silver-eyed, Gojyo is adorable, I will admit. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last!

Miorochi, here's the update!

A Reviewer, thank you for both the congrats and the condolences. As for the story, yes, Ana pretty much acts like one most certainly in love. Now you get to see how Sanzo will show that he doesn't hate her.

SakuraEmma29, I hate the fact that Kami-sama dies in the end as it wasn't his fault he was twisted. It is, however, Nii's fault.

Twilight-to-Nightfall, I think everyone could appreciate the irritation felt towards Gojyo and the subsequent dismantling of the Gojyo-wanna-be. Heck, I tried to project as much as possible into that part of what I read in the book. After all, you have to do some creative interpreting of true emotions as you don't have voice tone to tell you how they feel.

Blizardwolf1, I don't know about flawlessly, but I think Ana works out well.

Bluestocking, thank you for your condolences. As for a definition on 'lollygagger'... it is a person who is basically not going as fast as everyone else. Um... what's another word for it? Ah, yes, slowpoke. That's right. 'Lollygaggers' are 'slowpokes'. It's a Southern thing, I suppose.

FcS, of course it is! That's half the fun!

* * *

**Chapter XX: Dealing with Dragons**

"Thanks, pops!" called Goku as he gathered up the items he had requested from the barkeep. "I'll bring it back tomorrow!"

"Um, sure," said the barkeep uncertainly. "Take your time," he called. "But really, how will something like _that_ help at a time like _this_?" he murmured to himself, doubting that Goku's idea to help his friends would pan out. After all… they were badly hurt and quite depressed.

* * *

In the room where Sanzo was confined, Ana still laid on her side next to him – though he had shifted to lay on his back and a bit off to one side – awake and unmoving as Gojyo and Hakkai sat somewhere near her feet. She watched Sanzo quietly as he lay there, unwilling to move herself off the bed.

"…Gojyo," Hakkai said after a moment, looking at the man he had called the name of. "Why don't you go get some rest? You haven't slept since last night."

"Bah. Sleep? Give me a break," snorted Gojyo, one hand coming up to ruffle his hair. "I'm afraid if I go to sleep, I'll wake up surrounded by the living dead. I couldn't sleep if I tried."

They glanced at the pair on the bed. Ana didn't look at them or gave any indication she was paying attention to the conversation they were having. She heard it but didn't really care.

"Hunh," Gojyo continued, tearing a used-up pack of cigarettes apart into confetti in response to his boredom. "I wonder what happens now."

"I know how you feel," admitted Hakkai. "I suppose that initially we could have ignored 'Kami-sama' and continued on our way, but now…" He sighed. "He's taken Sanzo's sutra and we just can't let that go. However, I'm far more worried about Sanzo than about us."

"Damn," bitched Gojyo. "I feel like such a pussy for running away."

"I agree that it wasn't optimal, but there was little else we could do. I'd tear that man apart and feed him to the dogs if I could. However, we need to be realistic, Gojyo. If we honestly evaluate the power he controls… We cannot beat that man."

Gojyo gave a black-humored smile. "Maybe not. But we're going again anyway, right?" He snorted in amusement as Hakkai gave his own black-humored smile.

"Well, there's no way around it," he said in response.

"Huzzah!" cheered Gojyo. "We'll go down like men and leave pretty corpses!"

"Take your asses down a notch," Sanzo bit out, sitting up and startling the two as Ana was forced to rise up as well in response to her shock of his eyes snapping open. He glared at her, uncomfortably comfortable with her closeness. "Get the fucking hell out of my bed," he told her, making her back away slightly in shock. "Besides, this is _my_ problem," he continued, glaring at the two 'best buddies'. "I don't want your dirty fingers in it."

"You aren't exactly one to complain of conceit, Sanzo," Hakkai lightly reprimanded as he continued sitting on the end of the opposite bed of the two humans. "And don't be angry at Ana-dono. You wouldn't do that if you knew how worried she has been," he continued coolly.

"Damn straight," smirked Gojyo. "We've come this far; who cares whose problem—" He was cut off as he saw Sanzo push Ana out of his way, eliciting a pained yelp from the girl as his hand met tortured abdomen, and began to stand. "Hey! Siddown and listen, moron!"

"Eat shit and die!" snapped out Sanzo as he pushed the kappa away. Gojyo gritted his teeth and…

"Then try and _kill_ me, you insensitive asshole!" snarled Gojyo as he slammed his fist into Sanzo's face, forcing him down onto the bed and making the springs creak violently. Ana barely got out of the way in time as she had stumbled off the bed while Sanzo had been moving to get up, an arm over her stomach to protect it from the pain that ate at her gut.

"Gojyo!" shrieked Ana and shouted Hakkai at the same time.

"You might as well ditch your damn feelings for him, Ana!" he shouted, angered by Sanzo's insensitivity and foolishness. "This holy prick doesn't even know the fuckin' meanin' of love and doesn't damn well know what's good for him! He's damn well useless to us if he's lost his goddamn mind!"

Ana looked at him with wide eyes. "That's no excuse to attack him verbally _or_ phys—" She too, was cut off when Sanzo stood up rapidly and slammed his fist into Gojyo's gut, earning a pained grunt from the slightly younger man. "Sanzo!" she shouted angrily.

"Say that to me again," Sanzo spat, sweat rolling down his face.

"I'll k-keep saying it 'til your ears bleed," hissed Gojyo. "I'm not afraid of some pansy-ass priest who pisses empty threats! Oh, and did I forget to mention _Ana-chan_? Did we forget we're _crushing_ on her?" Sanzo's eyes, though unseen, widened slightly before narrowing and he knocked Gojyo onto his ass, eliciting more shouts of his name in shock as the two of them fought on the floor.

"You're in no condition for this, Sanzo!" Hakkai said, unsure of what to do. "Sanzo?!" he shouted, trying to gain the man's attention as Ana called out much the same words. "Stop this right now! San—"

"Don't call me that!" snarled out the priest, snapping his head around to glare darkly at the two affronted brown haired people that didn't know what the hell to do.

However, whatever might have come next was immediately silenced and stilled for the door to the door to the room slammed open to reveal a sight for sore eyes… that is, if they ached for the sight of Son Goku.

The chimp hat a cloth over one arm, a large flat surface and a box under the other.

"Goku…" murmured Ana. "Where've you been? We… We've been worried."

Goku didn't reply instantly, but instead shut the door and shook out the large flat square to reveal it was a low table.

"Huh?" murmured Gojyo as Goku laid the cloth over the table. Before anything else could be said, the box was opened and out came a series of tiles that Ana had only seen in two different places before. Once on her computer and the other in the hands of the psychotic Chin Yisou. For the others, it was recognizably a mahjong set and Goku…

He settled down on the ground before the door and said, "I wanna play mahjong."

The others stared in disbelief. Gojyo was still quite pissed from his earlier tussle with Sanzo. "But… grah! Why the hell would we—"

He was cut off by Hakkai as the man stepped forward. "All right. I'll take… this side," he said as he settled down on Goku's right.

"Hakkai!" protested Gojyo.

Hakkai looked at the red-haired man. "You too, Gojyo," he said flatly, his tone saying 'you'd better or else'.

"Wha? Are you insane?" demanded Gojyo. "Don't deadpan me! What's wrong with you?!" His protests were silenced by a flat look from Hakkai. He knew it would be suicidal to protest at this point. "…Rrgh," he growled, dropping to the opposite side from Hakkai.

"C'mon, Sanzo," pushed Goku, looking insistently at Sanzo, but not before giving an apologetic glance to Ana.

"Like hell," the priest spat. "Ask Ana. You're blocking the door. Move it."

"Oh my. I suppose it must have been torture to accompany us this far," smiled Hakkai in a fairly poisonous manner. "And have you forgotten? We have never taught Ana-dono how to play."

"You _bastard_…" hissed Sanzo, taking a threatening step forward. However, as he leaned forward to knock the entire table out of his path, Gojyo took the opportunity to throw him down at the last open place.

"If I play, I'm takin' you with me," he said.

"Hands off, you sorry son of a bitch! Unless you want me to rip out your—"

He was cut off as Goku raised a single finger into the air. "Time ta start!" chirped the monkey, overriding all protests.

"Can I watch?" Ana asked shyly as she approached, Sanzo's temper having made her cautious.

"Sure," Hakkai said kindly. "Settle down here next to me." He patted the floor to his right, which was to the left of Sanzo. She settled down, wary of the blonde's temper but watched with a quiet interest as they made sure all the tiles were turned face down and were mixing them thoroughly.

"Can I be th' _chiicha_?" asked Goku.

"Sure, if you'd like," responded Hakkai.

"What's a '_chiicha_' do?" asked Ana politely.

"Well," Hakkai said to begin the explanation. "The _chiicha_ is the chief player in mahjong. He sits to the East and is sometimes called the 'banker'. He is the one to deal the tiles out initially."

"Really?" mused Ana. "Only games I know how to play are board games and a couple of card games."

Sanzo, during the conversation had put his head in his hand, angered that no one was paying attention to his threats, muttering something about talking to brick walls. Some part of him was calmed somewhat by the fact that Ana had sat next to him, though he was also nerve-wracked at the same time. Why the hell had she sat next to him? It was Hakkai's fault… that's right. It was Hakkai's fault.

The tiles were dealt out and each person looked at their hands, setting each up, though Sanzo did so reluctantly.

"It has been a long while, hasn't it?" mused Hakkai with a reminiscent smile though it was still wary.

"When was the last time you played?" asked Ana, putting her hands into her lap, her legs crossed. She heard Sanzo snort derisively.

"Before you came, truthfully," Hakkai said with a blink as if he was astonished now that he thought about it. "We don't often stay somewhere where someone is willing to lend a set. Cards are easier to transport and we usually keep a couple of decks handy. Erhm… did I assume wrong and think you've never played?"

"Hey," interrupted Gojyo as he looked at Goku. "What's in your brain _this_ time, monkey?" demanded the kappa.

"Huh?" the monkey responded absently. "Nothin'."

They began actually playing, grabbing and tossing tiles at quiet intervals. "Um," Ana said quietly. "I never actually played mahjong. I usually played Black Jack, Gin Rummy, or War. And those are all with cards."

"_Pinfu_," announced Goku, garnering everyone's attention.

"Huh?" muttered Ana, confused. Gojyo echoed it at the exact same moment. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"He scored," murmured Hakkai, surprised.

"_Pinfu_! 1,000 points! No, wait! I'm _oya_! 1,500 point! Awesome!" cheered the teenager.

Ana looked a little lost, but she realized that while he hadn't explained _how_ he had won, he had told her how many points he had gotten.

"Big whoop," Gojyo said, taking a drag off his cigarette. "Flukes ain't worth dancing over." He was annoyed with the fact that Goku of all people had scored first.

"A win's a win, Gojyo. 1,500 points," Goku retorted.

"This is bullshit," Sanzo snarled, beginning to stand. "I don't have time for this."

"…Sanzo," came Goku's voice. "Do you wanna leave a loser?" That got the priest and he dropped down to sit on the floor again after a long, judging look at Goku. Ana, he could see from the corner of his eye, was looking at him with a rosebud frown again, like she was thinking about something. He carefully made sure to at least visibly ignore her.

With that, they began to shuffle the tiles again and set them up once more.

In this game, Sanzo tossed a title, calling, "There, _chii_."

All were focused on the game and Ana could kinda get an idea of what was going on… though she didn't get everything. Never mind. She was lost.

"_Riichi_," called Goku, surprising them all again. From the reactions, Ana knew he usually didn't do this good.

"You're pretty full of yourself, monkey," spat Sanzo, not at all enjoying the fact he was losing.

"_Lon_!" chirped Goku, then, making everyone stare at him in downright shock. "_Men_, _tan_, _pin_, _ippatsu_, _sanshoku_, _iipeikou_, _dora-ichi_!" he continued. Sanzo's cigarette dropped from his mouth as he nearly bit off the end. "That's 24,000 points, yeah?" Goku said, his entire demeanor cocky as hell as everyone looked on in total shock. He laughed. "Let's play again!"

And again…

And again…

And again…

They played all day long. Ana had eventually slumped against Sanzo, who had yet to win a major hand. She was bored of watching Goku gloat every time he won a hand. Surprisingly, Sanzo had yet to throw her off though he had stiffened noticeably when her head touched his shoulder. Now it felt as though he had somewhat relaxed into the touch though every time she moved the slightest bit, he would stiffen again for a minute or two.

"Damn… since this morning, Goku's won ten games in a row," muttered Gojyo sourly. Hakkai heard him and glanced up.

"You've been doing pretty well yourself," he lightly admonished.

"Well, compared to _someone_," Gojyo said, eying his tiles. "Goku keeps winnin' with Sanzo's tossed tiles. It's almost like he planned it."

Sanzo himself just remained silent as he observed his tiles. Ana did much the same, only because she was trying to determine exactly what the strange little sticks were… and the dots… she could see what the characters read. West, North, East, South… She had seen each tile. And there were others she had seen throughout the games. Ones that read spring and autumn… winter and summer. There were so many tiles.

"Wait a sec, Hakkai," Gojyo said suddenly, leaning forward slightly in an accusing manner. "You're not plotting something with the monkey, are ya?"

"That's rather rude," sniffed Hakkai, who had actually done no such thing though he was pretty sure he saw what Goku was trying to do. "First of all, there's no merit in my doing anyting of the—"

"_Lon_," called Goku… yet again. "_Chiitoi dora-dora_! 6,400 points! All right!"

Hakkai turned to Goku, a wide smile on his face. "Ah ha ha. Very nice, Goku."

'_Crap. He's pissed. This could be bad,'_ thought Gojyo.

"Gotta love Southernisms," muttered Ana from Sanzo's shoulder, recognizing the sentiment instantly and inadvertently causing Sanzo to tense once more. Many a times she heard her mother and grandmother – both of whom were white and from the Southern States – say 'that's nice' whenever they were uninterested or getting annoyed. In Hakkai… it meant he was pissed.

"Tch," muttered Sanzo himself, part of him wishing she'd get off and part of him wishing (and him fervently ignoring) that she wouldn't sit up any time soon.

* * *

Day faded into night…

And Goku had yet to whine for food. Something that Hakkai had noted a couple of times, thinking he was opening to ask to eat and had instead announced yet another winning hand.

"_Kan_," Goku said for a hand he had just made of the blanks before glancing at the hand of tiles before him. He turned it down to reveal the tiles in the hand. "Oh. Awesome! _Tsumo_! No, wait! _Chanta sanshoku mangan_!"

"What?!" shouted Gojyo. "_Chanta sanshoku mangan_?! What kind of strategy are you _using_?!"

Goku's joyous attitude suddenly turned somber. "It's not me playin' strong, Gojyo," he said flatly, causing Ana to sit up slightly in surprise for his tone was no longer gloating. "It's all you bein' weak."

"What?!" asked Gojyo in a dangerous tone as Sanzo eyed him darkly.

"It's easy to win against guys who decided to lose," Goku continued, somewhat evenly. "Not me. I don't plan to lose anymore." He glanced down at the table and at the tiles. Though the others didn't see it, Sanzo's face lost the dark look and gained an introspective look, weighing the words that suddenly seemed kinda wise coming from the monkey's mouth.

"Don't you lecture _us_, you little prick!" shouted Gojyo, not at all amused by the teenager's words. "That Kami-sama guy kicked your ass just as hard as he kicked ours. All the positive thinking in the world doesn't change the fact he's stronger than us!"

"But there's no _point_ in playin' ta lose!" shouted Goku, overriding Gojyo as he roughly stood. His voice lost its levelness as his anger grew at their obstinately defeatist attitudes. "I don't _get_ you guys! All th' stuff that psycho spouted was crap! What's wrong with wantin' to live? Isn't that normal?! If we just give up and die, then we lose to him! I don't think I'm forcin' myself through life an' I don't think I'm cool. We just do things th' way we want." His audience was enraptured by his impassioned words. "If ya think I don't get it 'cause I'm a stupid kid, fine. Maybe I'm a stupid kid. But I still know he's wrong an' I'm right! Sittin' here's like losin' to what he said. It's stupid an' I hate it! That guy can go suck himself! I'm _never_ gonna lose to a jackass like him! And… and…" He sat down roughly, embarrassed that he ended so weakly. "Crap. I ran outta things ta say…"

"Good speech, though," Ana said with a smile and a light applause. It caused Goku's already tinted cheeks to grow darker.

"…Perhaps you're right, Goku," Hakkai said suddenly with a surprisingly warm smile as he looked at his tiles. "No… I am sure you're right. What we all need right now is—" He cut himself off in surprise. "Oh. _Tsumo_."

"Hunh?!" exclaimed Gojyo, surprised himself.

"It seems the wheel of fate has turned," Hakkai said in an amused tone as he set down the tiles to show to all the others. "_Men chin tan pin ryanpeikou_."

"Wow, really?" Ana said, looking over. _'Wonder what kinda score that is?'_

"Well, perhaps we need to rethink our strategy. Let's first set our success as our goal and then discover how to reach it."

"Wha? When didja do that?!" yelped Goku, staring at the hand.

"Oh, yes. Triple full score, 24,000 points," laughed Hakkai.

"Bah," snorted Gojyo, audibly getting back on his game. "I don't remember anyone saying they were ready to die."

"I thought you did earlier," teased Hakkai.

"Can it, pretty boy. And forget all that. _Riichi_! _Tsumo_. How do you like _them_ apples? _Tsumo_ right after _riichi_, 3 _omote_, 3 _ura_, _oya-bai_!" He smirked widely around his cigarette. "And I'm just getting started, boys! Heh. 24,000 does have a nice ring to it."

"Hey!" protested Goku. "Aw, man! Now everybody's winnin'!"

"I suppose it's important to make up one's mind."

"Wait! Sanzo's yet to choose whether to win or lose!" chirped Ana, smiling up at the surliest of them all. "Whaddaya say, Sanzo? I didn't play this game but I'd be willing to fight because I'm too scared to die! So doesn't that mean I can't die because I don't wanna?"

Sanzo snorted derisively before eying his tiles once again with fresh eyes. Then he saw something he had missed on the first eying of this new set and started chuckling to himself as he began to rearrange the tiles before him.

"Er… Sanzo?" she asked when she didn't get a proper response from him.

"Uh, oh," mused Gojyo. "I think Sanzo's snapped from all the losing."

"…Quit staring and get ready," Sanzo snapped out with a smirk upon his face. "We're going again." He looked up to meet squarely with Goku's eyes. "And this time I'll win." The teenage boy smiled, feeling good for what he had managed to accomplish.

Next thing they knew, Gojyo called, "_Riichi_!" and was quickly followed by a "_Riichi_!" from Goku and then a "_Riichi_!" from Hakkai.

"…Hn."

"Oh, my. A triple _riichi_," laughed Hakkai.

"Sanzo—toss that one!" called Goku over the table.

"…Feh. You're so damn naïve," Sanzo said as he picked up a tile and tossed it to the center of the table even as the sun's morning rays broke through the window.

"Wow… What a night," laughed Ana as they finished off their game finally.

"Heh…" laughed out Goku as he slumped back, suddenly tired from the long night. The others showed similar signs of exhaustion. Soon, they all nodded off, their new objective in sight. Hakkai settled somewhat upright against the bed. Goku and Gojyo laid sprawled on the floor, Gojyo's foot and lower leg up on the table. Sanzo was slumped onto the table and Ana was slumped onto him.

* * *

A certain barkeep came up the stairs, annoyed by the foolishness displayed by a certain five people in staying up all night just to play a game. As such, he was muttering to himself. He approached the door and knocked on it. "Hello? I'm coming in."

He opened the door and was surprised to feel it hit on something. Looking down, he saw a foot… meaning a leg and a body were blocking the door. "Hm?" he murmured, surprised. "Oh. Good grief," the gentleman said. "Maybe I should fetch some blankets. That floor is bound to be cold," he huffed to himself, clucking his tongue at their foolishness. But as he turned his eyes to his mahjong set, he paused. He saw there at the Western position which was where Sanzo had sat as they had played… a series of tiles that made the highest scoring hand in all of mahjong. "He has _kokushi musou_," he murmured to himself in awe.

* * *

It was several days later and they were mostly healed up in part to time and in part to Hakkai's amazing chi abilities. Ana, however, regretfully noted that not all of the wounds had healed cleanly. There were a few somewhat starburst shaped marks on her body, one on her shoulder on the front side and one matching on the back for instance. Nothing could be done about it and she knew that the others had more scars than she did, so she kept mum. Not like it was the first scar she had from this adventure. That one some time back from that sword-wielding youkai was still faintly there as were a few others. Speaking of Ana and the others…

Sanzo, Gojyo, and Ana were all outside. Sanzo was target practicing with tin cans and live rounds. He had taken care to not aim the gun in any direction that would result in injuries of people. Ana had not let Sanzo out of her sight for more than a few minutes and much to Gojyo's amusement, Sanzo didn't ever force her to go away after the initial glare because Ana was suddenly not intimidated by his angry looks… especially after having become rather immune to them over the past couple of days. Gojyo watched as Sanzo got every single can with accurate shots.

"Hoo! Not too bad!" complimented Gojyo. "Not too bad. You're a pretty good shot, kitty cat." He rubbed at the back of his neck with a smirk upon his face. "We should start calling you the 'holy shit man'."

"Bad joke," deadpanned Ana from her position on the other side of the impromptu shooting range.

"I agree," Sanzo said as he reloaded his gun. "Stand over there if you want to keep making them. I've run out of targets." He closed the barrel back, ready for another round.

"Would make an interesting spectacle at least," smirked Ana. "You… dancing around as Sanzo fired at your toes…"

"Who said it would be his toes?"

"Ugh. You two should _so_ get together. Your sarcasm is way too similar," groused Gojyo, dropping his used up fag in annoyance. Even as Ana dropped the smirk and made a face, Sanzo aimed his gun.

"Hn," he grunted. "Keep your opinions to yourself." With that, once again a gunshot split the air and the still smoking, used-up fag was no longer in one piece.

* * *

Later that day found Goku stuffing his face rather rapidly with a huge amount of food laid out before him. "Barkeep," he called during a pause of his shoveling. "More of this one!" He lifted a bowl as he called.

"_Fuck_ this. The monkey's eating three times his usual," Gojyo said as he lifted his weights.

"I think that's how he gains his strength," Hakkai cheerfully replied.

"Wish _I_ could do that," mused Ana, despairingly watching Goku as he continued to eat. "A girl would kill to have the ability to eat whatever she wanted and how much she wanted… without having to be the size of a house."

"It has its downsides," Hakkai chirped to her. "Consider the fact that Goku eats almost continuously."

"True…"

"Why's everyone feeling _witty_?" asked Gojyo as he continued curling his arms.

Next to Ana sat Sanzo, who still had yet to shoo the girl away despite the fact he was still firmly anchored right smack dab in the middle of 'denial'. Said priest turned and looked at Gojyo as he looked over the top of his reading glasses, his newspaper in hand. "What are _you_ doing?" he queried in a flat tone around his cigarette.

"I've gotta keep my temple sculpted or the ladies of the world will cry," joked Gojyo.

Ana snorted as she looked at him. "You won't see _me_ crying anytime soon. I'd cry faster if my favorite perfume was no longer produced."

"You won't cry for me?" asked Gojyo in a mock-injured tone.

"Maybe… But only after I videotape all of you doing '_La Macarena_'. Then they'll be tears of laughter. And I'll be hurting."

"Ra Ma-ca-re-na?"

"Never mind, you poor pop-cultureless soul you."

"Actually," Hakkai said, heading off the argument he sensed coming… or at least badgering for an explanation. "Since we are on the subject of preparation… I've been thinking on how to handle 'Kami-sama'. His speed and attack power rely on him controlling his _jutsu_ and not on his using physical strength, correct? We're going to need to shatter that control and somehow slip through. Any one of us can beat him physically."

"Uh, hunh? And how are we supposed to break his control?" asked Gojyo, running his hair between his fingers.

"There are five of us. We'll come up with something," Sanzo said as he removed his glasses.

"Question?" chirruped Ana, raising her hand like she was in class. "If he's a lot weaker without his _jutsu_, what makes you think that I wouldn't be weak, 'cuz he's usin' spells, right? I'm using a spell! What if he gets the bright idea to break—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Ana-dono, but you are most certainly not using any kind of _jutsu_ to help your attacks. Kanzeon Bosatsu-sama gave you the abilities so they're irrevocable. Who knows if… ehrm… Kannon gave them to you or the key to them? I'd consider your lightning to be a physical strength rather than a spell." He glanced at Gojyo as Ana murmured 'nice to know' and lowered her hand. "On another note, Sanzo is quite right," Hakkai said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know we haven't yet thought of teamwork… but it might be exactly what we need in order to win."

"Teamwork?" asked Goku, a bit confused, around the bone he currently was gnawing clean of meat.

"Don't worry, Goku," laughed Hakkai as he looked at the teen. "It just means we gang up."

"Cool. I'm in a gang…" A look of consternation crossed over Ana's face at that point as she looked down. "Er… maybe not so cool. What would Mom say?" Sanzo just looked at her in a 'what the hell' manner.

"I hope that's not as violent as it sounds," the barkeep said, coming up with the food Goku had called for and another mug of beer to be handed off to Gojyo. He really didn't want to spend a good deal of time having to help these men and girl again after their last close scrape with death.

Hakkai's smile became slightly evil. "Truth be told, sir… _It is_. We're off to pick a fight with 'God'." He looked at the group. "We should finish up here now that we're all good and get started tomorrow. We want plenty of time before us to get up there."

Sanzo grunted and decided to go ahead and 'retire' early to get away from the annoying persistent noise from the quartet. The others slowly did much the same.

Tomorrow was going to be big. And they were aiming to win everything because they were not going to lose.

The fight to get Sanzo's sutra back would likely be… quite exhausting.

* * *

The next morning they rose early and paid off the barkeep. Each and every one of them got ready for the big showdown. And it was quite soon that they drove out of the town and up the mountain once more.

About an hour after they had left, they relocated the stairs and began to climb the fog enshrouded pathway to the top. It wasn't too long after that that a favorite topic of conversation was struck up.

"Man…. I think I'm getting' hungry again," whined Goku.

"What kind of mileage are you running on? We ate right before we left," Gojyo said, his hands tucked into his pockets as he walked up the stairs.

"I want ramen!" announced the chimp. "I haven't had ramen in forever!"

Hakkai laughed. "Then when we're finished here, let's treat ourselves," he said.

"Is the ramen you're talkin' about the plain ass junk that they sell in little tiny packets back home?" asked Ana as she watched Goku trot up the stairs ahead of them. "Because they kinda taste stale sometimes."

"Not likely," Hakkai said, looking at her.

"Stop talking about food," Sanzo ordered from just ahead of them but behind Goku. The priest had chosen to not wear the upper half of his 'Sanzo uniform' in the normal fashion, therefore exposing a fitted black sleeveless turtleneck of some kind of clingy material and gloves of the same fabric covering his arms. Ana rather liked the look. Though it covered him, it left little to the imagination about his upper half. "You're making _me_ hungry."

"At your weight, Sanzo, a little nutrition would be well placed," Hakkai said, glancing up at the blonde monk.

"Are you calling him skinny or fat?" asked Ana in a joking tone.

"After hauling his ass up a cliff, I'd have to say fat," Gojyo smirked from behind all of them. Ana looked over at him and shook her head with a wry little smile.

"I want chashao noodles an' miso corn broth!" continued Goku, dreaming of foods he wanted to eat.

"Nah — It's all about the pork ribs," Gojyo waved off.

"I've always liked a simple soy sauce on that," Hakkai mused. "What about you, Sanzo?"

"Salt," the priest replied shortly. Hakkai looked over at Ana and began to open his mouth to ask her opinion since she had yet to give one but was beaten to the punch.

"You people have obviously never had authentic Texan barbequed pork ribs," groused Ana, secretly amused by the topic and the participation of the others. "Texas pork ribs all the way. Sweet and sour. Tangy and juicy. Slow cooked on the barbeque and practically melt in your mouth. Served with a cob of roasted sweet corn with melted butter, salt, and pepper… not to mention the mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, and a whole truck load of napkins." She was almost drooling at the prospect.

Hakkai blinked.

"Seems you know what you're talking about," grinned Gojyo. "I'll have to have me some of that sometime."

"Sounds good to me," grinned Ana. "Just remember I ain't that good at cooking… but Jake is! He's learned all the tricks from his dad! If you guys ever come over to my place, I'll make sure to make him make you some."

"Great!" laughed Gojyo.

"Hm," mused Hakkai. "And why wouldn't you watch to pick up tricks?"

"I'm Cuban," Ana said to him. "Half at any rate. I'd faster make a _tortilla_ and stuff _fajita_ into it, roll it up, and call it a soft _taco_ before I'd ever deal with barbeque. My pure _gringo_ relatives and friends will have better luck than me!"

"That went by too fast," Sanzo said over his shoulder.

"A _tortilla_ is a flat bread made of either _maiz_… corn, that is… or flour. _Fajita_ is tough, beef that's seasoned with whatever kind of spices you want and tenderizer. Poor people ate it and then the rich man got a hold of it and turned it into a popular thing. And a _taco_ is when you take the _tortilla_ and fill it with all kinds of goodies. Lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheese, hot sauce, and whatever else with the meat in it. It's really good to eat."

"Is a 'ga-rin-go' something to eat?" asked Goku, interested in the food lesson.

"No. It's a white person. I'm half white. Mom is a _gringa_, a female white person. Get it? Now. Let's get back to the subject of ramen. Why is it so good to you guys?"

"Weeell," Goku chirped, easily diverted as he hopped up the steps. "It's good an' warm an' it can always make me laugh at Sanzo!"

"Wow. Great reasons. Why?" deadpanned Ana.

"Sanzo likes his ramen stale!" laughed Goku as he ignored Sanzo's baleful glare.

"Huh?"

"It is true," offered Hakkai. "Despite how odd it may be. Although I suppose there are people in this world who like soggy cookies and flat soda."

"Like old farts," added Gojyo edgewise.

"_Shut it_," Sanzo growled.

"Well… At least I can give my stale old ramen packets to Sanzo and he'll be happy. But what will I do if the ever indestructible ramen is gone when I go to college? I'd have to get a _job_!"

"Honest work wouldn't kill you."

"After my stealing spree that lasted several years, it would," deadpanned Ana right back to the one who had offered the comment… who had been Hakkai. The man just shook his head with a sigh.

Before them, the mist parted around a figure. Kami-sama. But this time they knew the truth. "…You all came back?" said the lunatic with a serious death wish. "You guys must be really curious! But I thought you understood what I said." He paused and hummed, still irritatingly cheerful. "Maybe it was too hard. It doesn't matter how hard you try. You can't beat—me." The pause in his words was caused by a single gunshot fired by a singly irate priest as he stepped on the stair that the fruit loop had been standing on.

"I thought I told you to shut up," Sanzo said flatly as the fake dissolved into many red glass beads.

As they passed over the steps, Ana stooped, picked up a bead, examined it, and flicked it over her shoulder in one fairly fluid motion.

She didn't watch as the bead landed several stair steps behind her before bouncing down even more. Her attention was riveted on the fact that they were within near-spitting distance of the final step. A minute later, Sanzo's foot found the landing and they all stepped up behind him.

Silence fell as they all examined the area and made sure that there would be no surprise attacks.

The court yard was empty, as to be expected. Why stay out front to greet the ones that were going to kick your ass?

"Ch," muttered Sanzo. "I'm taking back what's mine."

And that would be all the warning he would give. They walked over to the front door and Gojyo politely knocked the door open with one kick, too lazy to pull his hands from his pockets. Sanzo trained his gun onto the interior, watching for surprise attacks. No one.

"What?" Goku said, disappointed. "Did he leave?"

"Not likely. He's probably expecting us," Sanzo replied as Ana looked around. The surroundings seemed less threatening when there wasn't anyone there to kill them. However, there were still bloodstains on the floor that made her antsy. She knew where those stains had come from. At least they weren't bright red anymore. "Which would mean—"

A voice suddenly rang out, cutting off the priest and making everyone tense. "Welcome! Beyond this point is a non-smoking area. Please refrain from cigarettes. Also… those with firearms will not be admitted."

The voice was coming from behind a set of doors that they had not had the chance to investigate during their last 'stay'. Carefully they approached the door and edged to the sides as to not be caught in a dead zone if the doors suddenly sprang open with enemies on the other side. Gojyo and Sanzo took the left and Hakkai, Goku, and Ana took the right.

"This must lead into the main building," deduced Hakkai.

"Was that bullshit an invitation?" asked Gojyo with a grin. "Well, if cigarettes and guns are banned, Sanzo's out."

"Look who's talking, moron," Sanzo said, referencing the cigarette caught between Gojyo's lips as the kappa smirked. After a couple long moments, the priest decided to chance opening the door and slammed it open with his fist as there was no other way to open it for there were no door knobs or handles… only the 'push plate'.

Sure enough, the door opened and the five of them were treated to the sight of the one that had spoken before.

"_Bienvenue_!" the strange thing said, a toy that was half white rabbit and half brown bear wearing a sailor type of outfit. "You've just entered Kami-sama's castle. You're our lucky tour group number forty-eight!" said the rabbit-bear hybrid toy. "There's no time limit on the main attraction. However… please keep in mind that once the ride starts, it cannot be stopped."

Everyone stared at it as it rattled off its little speech. After the room itself was deemed safe, they entered and examined the room and the little freaky toy a bit better.

"What's this thing?" asked Goku, making a face. He was unsure of whether or not to like it but came to the decision that if it was in Kami-sama's castle… he wouldn't like it. "An' where's Kami-sama? Isn't this place his?"

Ana looked at it herself for a long moment with her nose wrinkled.

"If this is an attraction, he's probably at the end," Gojyo said, using his superb logic.

"Sir. Please refrain from smoking," cautioned the bear-bit.

"That again? Eat me," Gojyo said, not caring at all as he continued looking around.

"I wonder if this thing is animatronic…" mused Ana as she knelt down next to the doll from one side, examining it closely but not touching.

"You've already been informed about the firearms… but pets and children are forbidden."

"That _is_ a problem," mused Hakkai as he stroked the side of Hakuryuu's head, where the dragon rested about the youkai's neck.

"Wha?" yelped Goku. "_I'm_ no kid, ya stupid freaktoy!" shouted Goku angrily as Ana grabbed the doll by an arm and lifted it clean into the air as she looked at it.

"Wonder where the cameras are…" mused the youngest.

"M-miss! Please stop that!" cried out the startled toy.

"I just wanna find out where the batteries are and take 'em out…"

"That will be quite impossible!"

"How do you know? You're a _toy_."

"Let me down! In the event that you cannot abide by the rules…" chattered off the bear-bit hurriedly. The ceiling rumbled threateningly and they noticed the pillar like things that were somehow clinging to the ceiling. "Beware the repercussions," the bear-bit said as one crashed down right next to Ana, making her scream in fright as she dropped the toy and threw herself backwards. The pillar had had enough momentum to smash the floor beneath it, sending chips of stone flying.

"Hey!" yipped Goku as Ana stumbled back and dropped on her ass, her heart hammering in her chest and her eyes wide. "What the hell was that?!"

Before the teen could get out any more words, Gojyo roughly grabbed Ana by the arm and dragged her to her feet even as Hakkai said, "We have to move! The next one's coming!"

Not only did the next one come, but several others in quick succession slammed into the stone floor, sending them scrambling to avoid them.

Goku hurriedly turned to Gojyo and Sanzo. "You guys!" he called. "Get ridda th' guns an' th' smokes!"

"Hell no!" snapped back Gojyo as he pulled Ana with him. "Like I'm going to listen to some—" Another pillar slammed down next to them. "Shit!" he yelped, throwing Ana away.

"Hey!" she yipped as she slammed into Sanzo's chest a bit of distance away, his hands steadying her automatically. "This is such the warm welcome," she bit out sarcastically, angry that she was getting so surprised.

"That asshole's still playing with us," said Sanzo as he looked out for both the next pillar and the exit. He saw an exit and turned to Hakkai. "There! Look!" He garnered Hakkai's attention, gesturing to the stair case. He looked down at Ana, who had heard him as well. "You run there, got it?" he told her.

"Yeah," Ana said feeling both dry-mouthed and determined.

Satisfied with the response, he turned and shouted to Gojyo and Goku. "Oi! We're going up!"

"Gotcha!" called Gojyo as he and Goku struggled to get over to the staircase. However, the dropping pillars were making that increasingly difficult.

One slammed right down in front of Goku, making him yelp in surprise as he barely dodged it.

"Hurry, Goku!" Hakkai called out as Gojyo managed to get away from danger and into the doorway.

"I'm _hurryin'_!" Goku called, throwing himself around the pillar and momentarily slowed by another. "And _you_ can eat me!" he snarled as he kicked the pillar and shattered it.

With that, Goku ran to the steps and up the first few, the others ahead of him and Hakuryuu wheeling in the air above their heads.

"Where do you think Kami-sama's waiting?" asked Ana, who was behind Sanzo.

"Perhaps the highest floor?" guessed Hakkai.

"Hn," grunted Sanzo. "Smoke and morons rise to high places."

"Ain't that the truth?" quipped Ana.

"Damn. I'm not dropping my stick for _that_ douche-bag," bitched Gojyo, not at all pleased with the beginning of this 'game'.

Hakkai slowed as he noted a small metal plate on the wall… it read '2F/13F' and an up arrow. _'Thirteen floors… would that be unlucky?'_ thought the youkai slayer as he continued upwards.

Though they couldn't hear it, back in the room they had just left was that strange toy completely unharmed. As the rabbit half bowed, it said: "Please take your time. And do have fun!"

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Dealing with Dragons is about an imperfect princess that winds up being protected by a dragon and then going on a humorous but danger-filled journey to help the King of the Dragons. I cannot remember the exact storyline or who wrote it, but I liked this book, the first one of a several book series. All I remember is that the last name began with 'W'.

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MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 9: Chapter 50: Play Go

Volume 9: Chapter 51: Dawn

Volume 9: Chapter 52: Go Ahead

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Please review! I love all my reviews and seeing that I have so many makes me warm and fuzzy!


	23. XXI: Castle of Wizardry or Enchanter's

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Saiyuki. I wish I did, but I don't. I only own Ana-chan, so please don't steal her in her entirety. If you like some of the stuff she does, I won't stop you from taking some of the ideas.

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**Reviews****: **Right before I get to the reviews, I've got to apologize to you all. I've been leaving my flash drive at home and the only place I have time to post chapters is at work. Also, I assure you that I've finished this part of the story (there's only one last part to post before this one is done) and have not completed more than the prologue and the first chapter for the next one. Many apologies to all of you. I humbly bow to you all.

Also, several people kindly told me that it was Patricia C. Wrede that wrote Dealing with Dragons and its sequels. Thanks to all that informed me.

As for the reviews...

White Fire Alchemist, Goku's an instinctive type, so sometimes instinct leads him to do something that gets everybody on the right track.

Ugly.Beautiful, there will be more fluffy goodness in this chapter and in the epilogue (next chapter). And as I said to White Fire Alchemist, Goku's instincts led him in the right direction on this one.

Gokusheretcilgirl, this is the next part of Sanzo/Ana action.

Miorochi, Sanzo comes completely out of denial in this chapter, but you'll see that even though he does, next chapter shows he's still our ever lovable asshole.

Estriel, thank you for the compliment, and Sanzo's a fun one to include new bits into while trying to keep a lot of the original characterization. Honestly, if you got right down to it, it would have been easier to have had Ana fall for Gojyo or Goku, though Gojyo would have been more difficult to do. He's almost as bad as Sanzo and Hakkai about letting people get too close.

Shadowluzid, he stops denying them, trust me.

Lia, I love Gojyo, too... so it isn't really a random thought. I playfully bash him because I love him, just like the others. Anyway, I hope I get motivation soon. But I'm more worried about other things right now.

ChibiPandaChan, welcome to the pool of reviewers! I think Sanzo didn't shoot it because it was just annoying and not an actual problem because he hasn't shot Goku or Gojyo yet, has he? As far as the mention of the ribs go, I live in Texas and in my opinion, you can't get much better than good Southern cookin'. Ana has to live in Texas because that's the only state I know... plus the Hispanic population is ginormous here and though I have no problem with that (as I'm a big Mexican food fan), it makes it easier for her to fit in. And thanks for the compliment on my writing.

SakuraEmma29, here's more Sanzo and Ana. Enjoy...

A Reviewer, poor you for not having the breakfast. Here's a bit of a funny story for you and any others who enjoy pork ribs:

**My uncle is from Iran and he has been raised Muslim. Therefore he doesn't eat pork except for extra crispy bacon and pepperoni. One time, my cousin (his son) made up some good pork ribs and he, his sister, and his mom were all eating them when my uncle came in, sat down, and began eating them. Everybody stared at him in shock for a minute when he told them it was good. Someone, at that point (I don't know who), told him they were pork ribs and my uncle spat out the rib meat and started gagging. Now, I'm not saying this is funny that my uncle had this happen to him and he was grossed out by it. I'm saying it is funny that a Muslim raised man would even find pork ribs good if they were made right.**

Twilight-to-Nightfall, hoo boy, what's with people not eating? And the funny part of that thread on Gaia was because I was fishing for more feedback more than more reviews.

Bluestocking, to answer your question about interludes, for this story they are done. For next story, I don't know. As for using Japanese words, I do, but only if they're original to the translated story. I don't like using a bunch of words that I don't know how to properly use in real life. I don't care what others may believe, but that's just how I do it. Japanese words are add-ons that I feel disrupt my writing as I certainly don't speak Japanese and I won't pretend I do. Sorry if that came out sounding a little harsh.

Ms. Fortunate, thank you for all the compliments!

Silver-eyed, here's the ass kicking, which I must say I'm slightly sad about as Kami-sama's not evil, just misguided.

Nami, Sanzo and denial are synonymous, but, hey, good stuff is coming this chapter.

FcS, here you are.

Baby Neko-chan, I'm sorry. It hasn't happened yet.

Beatit, thank god Ana is not Mary-Sue! Those stories aggravate the crap out of me! It's actually a pain to make it where they have disagreements because you have to figure out an argument and then the consequences of the argument. But in the long run it makes for a more interesting story. And when you get right down to it, to a certain extent it is fairly easy to insert into cannon up until the point I have to add bits that make me hurt. (Don't believe me? Check out 'Depravity'. I hate that story because it made me ill, but people seem to like it.)

Ahchan, here's what's next!

**As a final note before the story: This chapter actually wound up with two names for the title because I couldn't decide which fit better. Both are excellent choices because it fits pretty close to what happened in the Belgariad (generally, that is).**

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**Chapter XXI: Castle of Wizardry/Enchanter's End Game**

((Author's Note: I'm making up rooms to flesh this out. The only ones stated were floors five, seven, and ten by the guys. Let me have some illustrative fun.))

They had traversed many different rooms on their way to the highest floor. Floor one's pillars were mediocre to what awaited them on all the other floors.

Floor two had been creatively lined with broken glass jutting up out of the walls, floors, and even the ceiling. It was quickly determined that the glass on the ceiling could shake loose at a loud voice and no one wanted to be impaled on the falling stuff.

Floor three was filled with nitrogen gas. Hakkai had quickly realized the situation and demanded everyone out of the room immediately or else they'd all suffocate rather silently and peacefully.

Floor four was handed over to a bunch of pressure sensitive tiles and various painful implements shooting from the walls. Luckily all they had to do to avoid the traps was lay flat on the floor and shimmy as all the darts shot overhead.

Floor five had flame throwers. One managed to torch the end corner of Goku's half cape. He'd complained bitterly about it even after leaving the room and going to the next.

Floor six was magically trapped, changing gravity on them and throwing them against the ceiling. It was rather interesting to shimmy across the ceiling and pull themselves out the other side of the at-that-point upside-down door, falling to the ground one by one as they did so.

Floor seven was a stone maze. No one wanted a repeat of the scorpion youkai's castle, so no one broke any walls… despite the fact Goku had forgotten the last time they had busted down a wall and had suggested doing so again. Everyone hastily vetoed the idea and they spent a while working through the narrow twists and turns.

Floor eight had a word puzzle or else the doors wouldn't open. Hakkai barely managed to figure out the riddle. At least they had a break and could breathe for a minute.

Floor nine was made over into a freezer and there was ice everywhere, it was so cold. Ana had slipped and fallen on her ass, unfortunately bruising her tailbone.

Floor ten had an obviously hungry man-eating tiger that liked the looks of them for dinner. They were forced to kill the big cat.

Floor eleven was given over to traps once again and instead of flame, they shot acid. Fortunately, they managed to avoid the flying fluid all together and no one had holes in their clothes or skin.

Floor twelve was just pitch black with all sorts of sharp junk on the floor, making it near impossible to navigate. Ana managed to help with that one through a suggestion from Hakkai to use her lightning and charge herself but not attack. It worked rather well, though it faltered several times.

Now they were approaching floor thirteen and they were 'discussing' their favorite traps. Or rather, they were complaining.

"Man," whined Goku again as he glanced over his shoulder. "I can't believe that stupid trap on th' fifth floor scorched my cape!"

"Really?" chuckled Hakkai. "The maze on the seventh floor was my personal favorite."

"I liked playing Indiana Jones on the fourth floor!" chirped Ana.

"Fuck no," Gojyo said, visibly annoyed. "That was a bitch and the goddamn _tiger_ on floor ten was 'fun', too. Are we there yet? I wanna find the pisslick who designed this place."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll get your chance soon enough," Hakkai grinned.

A minute later, they were at the top of the stairs, looking up at almost cathedral-like doors. "This is the top floor," Sanzo said, shifting on his feet as he looked around.

"My, my," mused Hakkai. "I'd say 'Kami-sama' did a pretty good job of breaking our pace."

"I think we're gonna need to start seeing other people," Gojyo said dryly.

"I think he needs a new interior decorator," joked Ana. "Those room themes were kinda sad."

It must be noted that Sanzo snorted in a 'yeah, right' manner.

With that, they steeled themselves and pushed open the doors.

Within was not the one they wanted, though. It was the bear-bit toy again. "Congratulations!" it greeted. "You've reached the top floor in record time!" Talk about disappointing.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?!" Gojyo shouted, brandishing an angrily accusing finger at the toy. He was not pleased that the toy had beaten them to the top.

"I took the elevator," the toy said cheerfully. Ana immediately found herself wanting to punt the thing out the nearest window or maybe into the acid room. "Oh," it said as if remembering something as it pulled out some small object that looked like a bookmark. "And here is a souvenir," it said, holding it up and Hakkai politely took it.

"Ah… Thank you," the ever-polite Hakkai said, his hand ruffling the back of his hair as he wondered why the rabbit-bear hybrid toy was giving out gifts at a time like this. Perhaps its attitude reflected its master's… Which meant it wasn't taking them seriously.

"So… where's the freak that runs this joint?" Ana demanded, taking her mother's no-nonsense stance again with her hands on her hips. "Isn't he supposed to be up here?"

"I believe you're referring to my master," the bear-bit said. "And I'm sorry to say he is not on this level. He is on the first floor."

Before any of them could react, the floor dropped out from underneath them so quickly that they weren't allowed any time to recover and catch themselves. As such…

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" came a rather undignified scream from someone's mouth and it was accompanied by the sound of another person's scream, which was "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Faintly above, they heard the stuffed toy call down: "Have fun!"

They fell down the revealed shaft, every one of their faces highly concerned with the outcome of the fall.

"All right!" shouted Sanzo angrily. "Who said he was on the top floor?!"

"Let's just pray we don't land on spikes, Sanzo," Hakkai said, trying to keep his calm despite the situation.

"It was _you_ who said that!" pointed out Ana just as Goku had a very bright idea.

"Nyoi-bo!" cried the chimp, summoning his staff and forcing it to extend out to jam against the sides of the shaft. Immediately they all grasped it, hoping it would save them. However, much to their dismay, the staff's decorative heads skidded down the walls with a high pitched sound, the metal sparking against stone as they went down.

"…We're still falling!" Gojyo pointed out unnecessarily.

"Yaaaaah!" squealed Ana.

"The floor!" shouted Hakkai, seeing it coming very quickly up to meet them. "We're going to crash! Brace yourselves!"

Before they could do such a thing, they hit the floor with several agonized shouts of pain.

"Nnngh," moaned Sanzo as he began to push himself up, listening to the whines both Ana and Goku were producing.

"What the heck did I land on? It went up my buuuutt!!" whined Ana as she rubbed her ass, her face directed at the ground, eyes shut to whatever they had landed in.

"Is everyone alive?" asked Hakkai, looking about as he pushed himself up.

"My butt!" Goku was too busy agreeing with Ana on posterior pain than tell Hakkai he was alive. "Ow wow wow wow!"

"That son of a—"

"This isn't really the time to be swearing overly much," Hakkai chided as they all managed to their feet, examining the toys at their feet.

"What the hell is all this?" demanded Gojyo, startled by the mass of toys around them. Tons of them everywhere and ankle deep. Suddenly, laughter rang out and they immediately recognized it as to be Kami-sama's. They looked up to see the lunatic standing before a stained glass window done in a European style, complete with many Fleur de Lis symbols and Christian overtones. A very odd piece to see in the Far East.

"Oh, wow—That was so cool!" he laughed, a wide smile on his face as he spoke cheerfully. The group noted that the sutra was about the nut's shoulders. "Nobody's ever made it up here so fast!" His smile calmed down into a grin. "In fact…" he said after a moment. "…You guys are the first to make it to my toy chest at all. You should be honored."

The four of them had used the opportunity during his soliloquy to stand and ready themselves, every one of them slightly tense for what was to come, Hakkai and Gojyo smiling themselves somewhat.

"Yeah, real honored," murmured Ana, her voice echoing much louder in the room due to acoustics.

"We almost started to miss you, 'Kami-sama'," leered Gojyo with false sweetness.

The douche bag started giggling a bit, which caused untold amusement in the eyes of the others. "Really? That's sweet," he giggled.

As he said this, Ana felt something grab her wrist briefly with a warm, dry, roughened palm and fingers and grip somewhat firmly before letting go again, leaving behind the faintest phantom touch of lost pressure. It had been around her right wrist, which was the side Sanzo was on. A glance out of the corner of her eye told her nothing for he was still facing forward, eyes intent on Kami-sama.

"Ha!" barked out Gojyo. "We came for some fun, big guy." He kicked at the toys, sending a few flying in Kami-sama's direction. "So let's get this party started!" As a tiny teddy bear flew over Kami-sama's shoulder and a toy car flew past his arm, the idiot laughed out loud, during the distraction conveniently caused by Gojyo, Sanzo drew his gun and fired off two shots from the hip, his most famed way of pulling the trigger.

Naturally the freak vanished and reappeared behind him. Sanzo knew he would have done this so he didn't react when Kami-sama appeared behind him as Ana moved back as a reflex. A mere fraction of a second after she had moved, her face hardened into a rosebud frown and flinty eyes.

"Is that all you know how to do, mister?" Kami-sama said with a playful grin on his face. However, the look vanished when Ana threw an electricity filled punch at him, missing by a mere fraction as he moved back. "Oh, that's not very lady like," he chided her in an almost mocking tone before having to move away again in shock as Goku's Nyoi-Bo neared and missed.

He skidded into a small bank of toys, breaking it apart as he smiled reflexively though there was a hint of shock to it. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "I didn't see you there." He would have continued, but he turned sharply to glance over his shoulder in undisguised shock, his smile falling flat, as he sensed-slash-heard Gojyo's own attack with one – to quote Ana – unfashionable boot. The freak spun out of the way as the foot sailed past him, his face contorted with anger and confusion. "Hey! That's not—"

His words silenced themselves abruptly when he saw behind Gojyo was Hakkai. And Hakkai was firing up a chi ball special as Gojyo slid to one side. The energy shot and blasted against Kami-sama's upraised arms. Unfortunately he wasn't harmed, but he did seem to be very shaken. The others began to circle around again, ready for round two.

"_Hey_! What's going on?!" he said in a whiny tone, lowering his arms and looking at his opponents in shock. He didn't understand. How were they able to do this? He not only was having trouble with understanding… he was having trouble with controlling a sense of fear.

Hakkai smiled, not too worried about having not harmed him physically. "You get close when you want to attack. When you get scared, you run away. And when you get angry, you lash out," the youkai slayer said easily. "It's easy to predict the actions of a _child_." He laughed, visibly angering Kami-sama. "I have plenty of experience with juvenile behavior."

He did not appreciate being called a _child_! "Nngh! Take this!" he shouted, whipping off a length of beads and sending them to wrap around Hakkai's neck, the youkai not having time enough to react. The beads lifted him into the air, effectively strangling the demon as he grasped at the beads with his hands, trying to loosen them. "I wish you'd just die!" he said, angry that he was being made fun of.

A gunshot rang in the air and the bead strand broke, sending Hakkai crashing into the toys, beads falling of the strand still around his neck as he landed.

Kami-sama turned with a pout on his face to see himself mostly encircled by the others. Goku held Nyoi-bo at the ready. Sanzo's gun was leveled. Gojyo had yet to summon Shakujyo and he knew he wouldn't. Ana wasn't actively using her electricity. All of them had rather blank, disinterested expressions. And Hakkai disentangled the beads about his throat as he recovered from his attack.

Kami-sama was not appreciating the looks. "Don't you look at me like that," he spat. "You're weak, do you hear me? _Weak_!" At the second 'weak' he set off a _jutsu_ and scored a hit on Sanzo, causing him to bleed as he fell back slightly, a pained grunt falling from his lips.

Goku took the opportunity to slide his foot back and launch himself forward at Kami-sama. "Quit your whinin', asshole!" Goku said as he swiped at the bastard, Nyoi-bo barely nicking him. "We're not losin' this time." He skid past the crazy man and spun back, having been scored a hit on his own person by his opponent. "We're never gonna lose ta you again!" roared the Monkey King in the most defiant manner possible. He whipped his staff up and broke through the beaded strands, shocking Kami-sama.

"What…" he gasped briefly before angrily shouting out, "No!" He kicked out at Goku, making the monkey drop and roll to his feet a slight distance away. Gojyo and Hakkai came forward with a double attack against him, not allowing him to recover one bit from his exertions as Ana and Sanzo pushed forward just behind them. Goku was erect again and…

"J-just give up already!" cried out Kami-sama, raising the strange device that controlled the individual beads. The beads shot up and pierced their bodies, causing each and every one of them to collapse in pain. Hakkai was really the only one that didn't fall the entire way, having landed on his knees in an effort to defend if Kami-sama had tried to attack just after the last one… though it wouldn't have done much good.

Kami-sama used the moment to catch his breath, gasping as he did so, eying their still twitching bodies. "I'm not having fun anymore!" whined Kami-sama in a very petulant tone. "Why won't you just surrender?!"

By this point, they had caught their breath and Sanzo was the first to start rising to his feet. "…You're _still_ not getting it," the priest said as Hakkai slid up to one foot and holding a bleeding wound for at least that minute. Goku, Gojyo, and Ana hefted themselves to their knees and began maneuvering themselves upward as well as Kami-sama watched in amazed shock. "Listen to me, you psychotic shitmouth. Maybe you think this life and death stuff is all just a game. But I've got news for you…" The priest gave a wry grin and said, "We're gambling here… and we're not doing it with our lives."

Goku slid to one foot, using Nyoi-bo as a crutch, and Hakkai balanced on his feet, gaining more steadiness as he continued to stand. Gojyo was pushing himself up still by his hands. Ana was doing much the same as the red haired kappa.

And Sanzo continued as he slid to one foot, the other knee still on the ground. "We made a bet on this. But we're _not_ gambling with our lives."

That was not what Kami-sama wanted to hear as they stood fully. He watched them, angry that they wouldn't give up. "That's not fair!" he cried out.

At that point, Ana added her own two rather irritated yen in. "What's not fair? Deciding we aren't gonna play your fucked up game?"

With that, they came after Kami-sama again, who didn't exactly know how to deal with this group effort to kick his ass. Gojyo and Hakkai came from one side and Ana and Goku maneuvered from the other with Sanzo taking center stage. It didn't take much to disrupt their attack and sent them all falling back to regain their balance as Kami-sama used his beads as whips to knock them away.

"Fine! If you don't play nice, I'm gonna hurt her!" Kami-sama said, grabbing Ana by the arm and jerking her to his form. Being face to face with a powerful lunatic for the second time in her life was not how she wanted to spend this fight. Maybe he heard her thoughts for he spun her around and curled his arm around rather no-touchy-if-you-aren't-Genjyo-Sanzo places of her upper half. Sanzo's face was still dispassionate as he was good at doing faces, but there was a steely glint of anger in his eye.

"Don't you hurt her!" snapped out Gojyo, not liking the looks of this at all.

"Let go, you fuck faced asshole!" snarled out Ana, trying to wrest herself his grasp and began to build electricity throughout her body to force him off.

It did force him off and as he stumbled back, she whipped around and kicked him squarely in the thigh with her booted foot, missing her intended target by approximately 15 centimeters (6 inches if you can't do the math off hand). At that point, she didn't get a chance to grab Sanzo's sutra as he again used his beads as a very powerful whip and threw her away to send her crashing onto the toy littered floor a good distance away.

After catching her breath for a couple of seconds, she managed to get to her feet and witness another double attack via Hakkai and Goku in a pincer move.

As she stood, Sanzo gave her a look out of the corner of his eye and murmured something to the effect of 'calm down'. Her annoyance at having been manhandled by someone she didn't even _like_ was irritating beyond belief. The words Sanzo had uttered also seemed to be for him as well. His own anger at her having been touched inappropriately by enemy hands flared harshly. _'After all of this shit, I'm going to have to do something about these fucking emotions,'_ he thought sternly to himself.

They attacked him almost continuously, only stopping momentarily to catch their breath as another attacked. It left the false Sanzo gasping for air, inadvertently letting Gojyo recover this round of the attacks. "Meanies!" he gasped, wiping away the sweat tickling his chin. "I don't care how many times you try—you can't beat me! You'll never even _touch_ me!" A _jutsu_ blast knocked them down, but they resolutely got back up, silent now that they had 'calmed down' from Ana's little 'get together' with Kami-sama. Kami-sama was staring at them as they got up, not liking this. He had had more effect on them when he was trying to hurt the electric girl even though he didn't really want to hurt her. After all, she was a girl. And as such, he was getting more desperate.

"Y-you guys should cut it out! Sensei said that stubborn boys never get the girls!" he cried out, trying to get them to stop fighting.

Naturally, it backfired considering Sanzo was never one to not be a 'stubborn boy' just to 'get the girl'. Hell, he really didn't want to have even the emotions towards a particular stubborn _girl_.

The priest smirked as he looked at the ground and uttered a single word. "'Ukoku'." It froze Kami-sama. "…Am I right?"

The look of shock on Kami-sama's face was well worth it. "Huh?" uttered the startled man. "How do you know that name?" It was impossible for him to know that name. At least, that was what Kami-sama believed.

"I finally remembered," mused Sanzo, lifting his head and wiping away the blood trailing down the corner of his mouth with a thumb. "I tend to repress the things that piss me off, so it took me a while. That little incident really pissed me off." The confused look certainly didn't leave the fake Sanzo's face. "What?" Sanzo said, the smirk falling off his face. "You don't remember me? It's been ten years. Now that I think about it, you haven't changed much."

The tables had finally begun to turn against Kami-sama as Sanzo began to recant a certain meeting between these two men back when they were ten or so years old.

"You asked if I wanted to play. I really didn't want to. I had duties to perform. You tried to force the issue and I told you no. Your sensei came and you went to him. He was a Sanzo priest… Ukoku Sanzo." He prudently left out the fact that Ukoku had believed him to be a girl at first sight. He really didn't want to be teased about that. He also left out other details, such as the fact Ukoku was a heretical Sanzo and was very good at hidden meanings within his words.

"Wait. A Sanzo priest?!" exclaimed Gojyo in disbelief.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," deadpanned Ana, though her face was also one of wide eyed disbelief.

"No way this guy's a real Sanzo!" refuted Goku loudly.

Hakkai's face had lost its grin at this pronunciation.

Sanzo just watched Kami-sama's reaction, which went from shocked that Sanzo knew about his past to irritatingly smug.

"But I am," assured Kami-sama, liking this new toehold. "You see… Sensei is an amazing man. He can do anything – he knows everything. Sensei made this castle." There was a soft laugh mixed in with that irritating smirk. "He trusted me with everything and declared me a priest. See? I'm a real Sanzo."

Ana's rebellious thoughts went: _'I'm a real boy!'_ She mentally shook her head, her physical one twitching slightly at the mental motion. Now was not the time to go and think Pinocchio.

Sanzo snorted derisively. "I think you're full of shit." Kami-sama's smirk turned to a momentarily confused one before becoming downright annoyed as Sanzo continued. "Maybe your Master was a Sanzo. But if you really inherited the title…" Cue dramatic pause. "…Where the hell's your sutra?" The point was reinforced by an un-amused, flat stare contributed by one Sanzo priest currently lacking his sutra. The look on Kami-sama's face confirmed the point. "You went out of your way to take mine. That was only because you don't have your own, right?"

"Sh-shut up!" protested the false 'Sanzo'. Sanzo was right and he knew it, so Sanzo pushed on.

"You never told us your name because you don't have a proper Buddhist title as a Sanzo, I'll bet."

"Shut up!" Kami-sama's voice pitched higher at these continued facts.

"You may have inherited the clothes and the powers and the castle from your master, but he never gave you the title of 'Sanzo'," the real Sanzo priest continued flatly.

"_Shut up_!" shrilled Kami-sama and the moment he finished 'up', something grabbed a hold of their feet and ankles, causing a yelp from Ana's lips and a startled oath from Gojyo's as the presence scrabbled up their legs. It became obvious what the tiny grasping hands were when they looked down and found toys climbing up their legs.

Sanzo couldn't believe that the toys were moving, though he did remember the bear-bit from earlier. He had assumed, like Ana, that it had been animatronically animated. It was unlikely now that that was the case.

"H-hey!" yipped Goku as he tried to free his legs from the toys and whatever was grabbing him. "Somethin's grabbin' me!"

"What's going on?" Ana asked, the look on her face of major concern as a tiny doll hand reached out of the thick mass at her legs and grabbed firmly onto her pants leg, right at the ripped out knee. "What the hell?! The dolls?!"

At that point Kami-sama laughed triumphantly for a moment at this shell-shocking turn of events. "They're my toy army," he 'kindly' explained. "Those aren't normal dolls you're standing on. Do you know what they're made of?" He chuckled again and continued. "They used to be souls…" Here, his tone turned annoyed again. "…But you broke the tool that made them."

"Souls?" Hakkai said, horror lacing his tone. "But that would mean…"

"He's been killing tons of people!" Ana burst out. "That sick freak!" _'And I could have been one of them!'_

"Y-you son of a bitch!" Gojyo said, horrified himself. "You're out of your goddamned mind!"

"Ah ah ah!" tutted Kami-sama with a broad smirk. "You two should be more polite. All of you should, really." The toys progressed quickly upwards and were soon grasping at their hair and forcing them down to the ground. Sanzo actually crashed into the ground backwards from the force of the toys, his teeth gritting in pain and annoyance at the current predicament.

"Ow!" yelped Goku as the toys pulled at his hair. Hakkai's teeth were gritted and he was trying to figure out what toy was pulling at the top part of his head in an almost insistent manner.

Ana was already fully captured herself, her arms and legs pinned. She had tried to electrocute the stuffed creatures, but the attack was woefully ineffective as they were merely toys and not exactly conductive materials. Her entire body was shivering in fright and not a sound came from her lips as she was forced to stare at the ceiling. However, her view was obstructed by Kami-sama a moment later. In shock, her eyes widened as he lifted his foot.

Next thing she knew, he had kicked her hard in the side. She had hurt him with her electricity… And it seemed even a stubborn boy got the girl. He was mad about that. The girl hacked in pain when the sandaled foot connected with her already abused ribs from the fight. "Sensei also said that you should give what you get!" he chirped down at her. "I don't much like hurting girls, but you did hurt me so I had to hurt you back."

He looked around at the disabled figures in his toy pile. He chuckled as he knelt down beside her. "Sensei is so amazing. He even left me these toys. He said that everything alive is God's personal toy." He grinned at her and trailed one hand down the side of her face in a surprisingly gentle manner as she continued to gasp for air. "So why don't you be my toy? You'll enjoy it. I promise."

That was when Sanzo snapped. He was tired of playing this bastard's games and now he was trying to take Ana away from him! He began to chant the scripture inscribed upon the sutra, causing Kami-sama to pause in surprise. His words became stronger, louder, even though there was a stuffed dog trying to stop his voice by pressing down on his windpipe. "On ma ni ha tsu mei un _Makai Tenjyo_!"

In a flurry of paper, the sutra glowed and lengthened, becoming masses upon masses of paper whipping through the air and knocking away the toys. The toys dissolved into nothingness an instant later and they all stood, Ana grasping at her side and still gasping slightly, as Kami-sama shrieked out an angry and shocked 'No!'

"…What was it you were saying about the dolls? You pathetic piece of shit," bit out Sanzo as the scripture reformed into a neat roll of paper… right in the rightful priest's hand. "If your ass studied under me, I wouldn't give you anything. Not one… single… thing." Slender but strong fingers coiled around the scroll as Sanzo pronounced this.

"Give it back!" shouted Kami-sama, angry that 'his' sutra had been taken. He lifted the thing that controlled the beads as he continued to shout. "Give it back give it back give it _back_!" Before he could send the beads against them, Gojyo was in his face and grabbed his wrist. "Aah!" yelped Kami-sama, reflexively lashing out with the beads around him and piercing Gojyo in the chest with them. Gojyo gagged from the shock, bloody spittle escaping his lips as he smirked and looked up at the freak he was holding aloft by ten or so centimeters. Kami-sama stared at him.

"It's b-been a long game of tag. And guess what, you piece of shit… You're _it_."

He threw Kami-sama into the nearby wall, the man gasping as the breath was knocked out of him. The kappa grabbed the rope of beads protruding from his chest and jerked them out just before hitting the floor, taking his chance to catch his breath as Goku stepped up to the plate right behind him. He ran forward as Kami-sama saw his approach.

The false priest yelled out, "No! S-stay away!" The beads that were now loose hit Goku and drew blood from various spots, but the chimp didn't stop.

He lifted Nyoi-bo and swung it like a bat, shouting out as he did so. The force of his blow made a bigger dent in the wall than before as Kami-sama crashed into it, earning another pained shout as he struggled to recover. Satisfied with his work, Goku hit the ground himself to recover for a minute.

Kami-sama hacked as he recovered slightly, unknowing of the hasty plan hatched between the last three members of the group. "You can't… How dare you!" he gasped. "I'll kill you!" he shouted then. "I'll kill you all!"

"Better than being your fucking _toy_," bit out Ana as she appeared before him, charged and glowing from the force of her electricity. She shot off electricity at him, also getting the bead treatment but a little harsher than Goku's. His body spasmed from the energy surging through his system. Ana fell to the side, clutching at bloody wounds, her part done.

In the next moment Kami-sama looked up, Hakkai came forward like an angel of death, his chi swirling in his hand as he gathered it up and a cold smile marring his face.

Kami-sama retaliated before the youkai slayer could harm him but was shocked when the cold smile on Hakkai's face changed from cold to amused and assured as he dispersed his chi and took the attack full force, earning a pained, bloody gasp from him. As the beads impacted his body, he knew that there were bullets that had grazed him in order to get to Kami-sama. It was their plan, after all. He began to crumple under his own weight, momentarily taking pleasure in Kami-sama's confusion. "Wait!" exclaimed the man, realizing something very important. "Why did you stop without setting up a barrier?!"

"D-don't bother worrying," gasped Hakkai as he clutched at his own wounds, blood beginning to get in his eyes. "It's already over."

"Huh?" At that, Kami-sama registered his own pain and he looked down at himself and was shocked to see several red places on his torso. Two red spots were on his belly and for some reason the beads in that area had snapped and were falling down, dropping the red baubles off the strand as they went. His hand reached up to touch the one blooming red spot near his lung and with the lightest brush of his fingers, pain exploded through him. He gasped, hacked, and then spit up blood. His coughs rang through the room as Hakkai finally gave into gravity.

Kami-sama watched the brunette man hit the floor and reveal the blonde that was still aiming his gun point blank at Kami-sama. "Y-you used y-your friend…?" he stuttered in awe and horror. "As a shield?" He hacked again, throwing up more blood out of his lungs… and now his stomach. The acid from his stomach burned at his throat. He hit his knees, the pain suddenly totally unbearable. Sanzo kept his gun trained on him in the case of Kami-sama playing games again. But Kami-sama couldn't think outside of the pain. It hurt. So much. It was enough to cry over, but he didn't. Instead he shouted out in pain around his hacking coughs.

He finally rested upon the floor, his blood pooling underneath him, smelling of vomit and metal. "Wh… Why?" he murmured, his mind hazed by the pain.

"There are several reasons," Sanzo said blandly. "But I think this reason will be enough for you. Ever hear of 'Muichimotsu'? Maybe you've heard of it." He opened the barrel of his gun and unloaded the empty cartridges, allowing them to fall to the ground before slowly sliding in new bullets. "They're the words my master left me." Kami-sama's eyes remained fixed upon him. "It teaches us to live without attachment… But, is it right to throw everything away to live?" He slid the second bullet into place and moved onto the third. "I thought I'd gotten this far with my own interpretation of it. Then I realized something. More than anything… I've been bound by 'Muichimotsu'." He slid in the fourth bullet into place and realized he had no more bullets to push in, leaving one blank place in his barrel. "I have no doubts. And I have my own way of living." He flipped the barrel shut with a metallic chink. "This is the Genjyo Sanzo version of 'Muichimotsu'," he said with a ring of finality.

And with that, Kami-sama was defeated though he still struggled verbally as he flipped over to lie on his back. "But… no!" he whined. "I don't get it! I don't have anything. You have all kinds of things! You have so many _things_! And a girl! Sensei always said stubborn boys never get the girls! Why do _you_ have one?!"

The two of them were only vaguely aware as 'the girl' and her male friends were climbing to their feet, Hakkai having to be supported by Gojyo.

Kami-sama struggled up a little and grasped at Sanzo's robes. "It's not fair." He smiled a bit shakily. "Hey… won't you give them to me?"

Sanzo leaned down and smirked, pulling Kami-sama free from his robes. "I won't," he said with a finality that made Kami-sama pout.

"Not even the girl?" asked Kami-sama.

"Especially not her," Sanzo said, coming to a decision in his mind about Ana at that very moment.

He straightened, the smirk fading, as Kami-sama sagged back onto the floor and covered his eyes. "Meanie…" he pouted. The 'festivities' were cut short, though, when a distinctly unsettling rumble filled the air. Cracking sounds reverberated all over the place.

"Huh?" Goku said, looking up. "What's that noise?"

"This sounds nastily familiar…" Ana noted, resisting the urge to bolt like a hare from the building. She wouldn't leave her friends behind.

"Noise…" mused Kami-sama to himself from his place on the floor. "Oh. I guess the game is over now. Right, Sensei?"

"That sounds like an earthquake!" Gojyo said, wanting to run himself.

"it's not an earthquake," came Kami-sama's very calm but sad voice. It attracted the closest person's attention to him. Sanzo's attention… "Everything's going to shatter and disappear. It has to. The game is over.

"Game?" queried the priest, needing more information.

"The promise Sensei made with me… This is a game that lasts until I lose. That's the game Sensei plays." He chuckled softly and shallowly. Too much laughter would cause hacking and hurting.

"Did ya hit your head or somethin'?" demanded Goku, having heard the words Kami-sama had said to Sanzo. "That's crazy talk!"

"The castle will crush you if you don't hurry," informed Kami-sama, waiting to die under the very roof that would crush the others if they didn't move.

"Fuck!" burst out Gojyo, storming over and grabbing an arm. "You stupid son of a bitch! I've _had_ it with your bullshit!" He jerked the injured man up, earning himself a startled shout.

"But why are you—" began Kami-sama but was cut off by the kappa.

"Can it, prick! This is Kinkaku and Ginkaku all over again! You manipulated the goddamn shit out of us. Good for you. Now get your scrawny ass up!" He didn't expect to have Kami-sama throw him off and sag back to the floor, hacking at the sudden movement. "What did I—"

"I'm sorry," gasped Kami-sama. "I'll be fine. I want to wait here."

It confused Gojyo a good deal but his thoughts were interrupted by Hakkai's shout of, "Gojyo, the ceiling!" and a small, feminine hand covered in something fluid grabbing his wrist and yanking backwards. An instant later, a large chunk of stone slammed into the floor, imbedding itself in an upright position.

"Shit!" swore Gojyo as he recovered his balance.

"Sorry about that," joked Ana a bit as she let go of Gojyo. "I got blood all over you." Her hand had been covered in blood and now there was a bloody handprint mostly encircling his wrist. She flicked the appendage and small drops of blood were flung away from her body.

"We've got to get out of here," Hakkai said seriously as he continued to eyeball the ceiling.

"Fuck yeah… The place is caving in!" Gojyo agreed, turning to the door as were the others. Ana cast a look over her shoulder at Kami-sama, a worried look marring her face. The guy was a creep, but he shouldn't die just for that.

"Hurry up," Sanzo commanded her, grabbing her around her upper arm with a firm hand and drug her out the door.

"What about him?!" asked Ana, worried and upset. "He's gonna die—"

"He's chosen his fate," Sanzo said firmly, interrupting her. "And we're choosing ours. Now move."

"…How come you're so nice?" asked Kami-sama, garnering Gojyo's attention as he was the last out the door. The kappa looked back through the collapsing room to the man that called himself 'God'.

"Ch. Yeah, right. Keep talkin'," spat the man, not at all interested in getting flattened.

Abandoning the room entirely, the five of them ran through a narrow, windowless hallway that they prayed led out of this mess of falling building.

Small bits of rubble fell upon their heads and occasionally larger chunks would rain down, forcing them to either pause for a fraction of a second or blast the bits out of the way in some manner.

"Watch your heads!" called Hakkai to the rest of them as he eyed the ceiling as he ran, Goku only slightly ahead of him.

"You _sure_ this is the exit?!" called Gojyo at the back.

"It's th' only way ta go!" called Goku over his shoulder back at the kappa.

"There's no other choice, Gojyo!" Hakkai added. "Besides, after our fall, we should be on the first floor. At least without stairs our journey will—nngh!"

The youkai sagged suddenly from the pain in his body and Gojyo shoved Ana out of the way just in time to catch the man from hitting the floor.

"Shit, man! You okay?" he said, looping an arm around his shoulders to steady the green-eyed demon.

"F-fine," gasped Hakkai. "Thank you…"

They hobbled up to the door the others were forced to stop at.

"Sanzo!" Goku said, rattling at the door. "Th' door's locked! It won't budge!"

"Then move your sorry ass!" snapped Sanzo, shoving the teen aside and momentarily releasing Ana. He whipped out his gun and aimed it square at the lock before firing off one quick shot followed by another, shattering it.

"Good job!" Ana congratulated as Goku kicked open the door. "Now let's run!"

"Or die!" called Goku, not really wanting to do such a thing, kicking debris out of the way with a powerful leg. They ran through the portal and started dashing towards the exit. However, large chunks of ceiling impeded their way.

"There's the exit!" called Gojyo, seeing the last door they had to go through, for they recognized this room to be the entry hall to the castle, though it was a lot better looking when they had last gone through. "C'mon!"

Hakkai caught sight of a large piece of rubble falling towards their heads and he gasped, knowing he would be unable to do anything. However, just as Gojyo noticed their impending problems of the cranial sort, gunshots broke the rubble above their heads.

"Faster, genius!" roared Sanzo, his gun barrel still smoking as he snatched at Ana's arm again, but was forced to pause at her own pained gasp. A look at her told him something he really didn't want to deal with. Her entire midriff was stained with blood and she was pale under her tan. Her entire body was shaking and she couldn't seem to quite catch her breath.

She gave him a grin that was more of a pained grimace. "Sorry for being trouble…" she said to him and tried to press forward with shaky legs.

"Fuck," he muttered before grabbing the girl bodily off the ground despite his own injuries and weakened state. He cradled her torso to his chest with a kind of warmth he didn't know he had, her feet barely off the ground by a dozen centimeters. He hadn't been able to grab her properly due to the collapsing building threatening to fall on top of them.

"Since you're the hero, Sanzo," jeered Gojyo as they moved forward again, "I'll let the honors of kissing you for saving my life pass to Ana-kun here!"

"I'm murdering you as soon as we're free," hissed Sanzo, not at all amused by the kappa's joke. It didn't help that his and her cheeks were stained red from blood rushing to the insides of their faces rather than on the outsides.

"Sorry…" muttered Ana again, her nerves wound too tight to enjoy the contact as she would have otherwise. Higher up the building, Hakuryuu busted out a window and flew clear of the building, the tiny dragon having gotten separated from them in their efforts to get out of the building.

Goku darted forward and kicked the doors nearly off their hinges with the force of his foot once again. The pain that shot up his leg in protest of his actions forced him to pause momentarily, allowing the others to dash forward, Hakkai now under his own power and Ana staring wide eyed over Sanzo's shoulder at the collapsing building behind them.

The roar of the collapsing building was now very loud in their ears and a quick glance over his own shoulder confirmed the worst to Hakkai. He shouted out: "Take cover!"

At that, they all fell forward as the building crashed down – debris flying everywhere – and protected the soft places of their faces and backs of their necks with their hands… except for Sanzo who threw Ana to the ground underneath him and shielded her with his body, her own form curled with her eyes screwed shut in fear and a whimper escaping from her lips.

Seconds later, the blast calmed down and the dust began to settle, letting the others open their eyes warily and look back at the damage. Hakuryuu swooped down and attracted Hakkai's attention, the youkai exclaiming the transforming creature's name in relief.

Ana shifted away from Sanzo's form to catch an eyeful of the wreckage of the castle. Her eyes widened in noticeable shock when the dust began to settle slowly. All that was left upright was a few broken pillars sticking out of the ground like half destroyed grave stones, a single beam and cross beam supporting the idea in its looking like a cross. There was a large section of roof crumpled on the ground and there were loads of debris everywhere in the area.

"…That had better be it," Sanzo said, observing the destruction himself.

They stared for a moment longer, assuring themselves that there wasn't anyone coming out of the collapsed building after them. Nothing stirred save for the dust and settling of some of the bigger pieces that pressed down on giving surfaces.

At that point, they sagged under the relief of having finally won the battle and fell back to lay on the ground, gasping for breath and feeling rather beaten up. "Phew!" gasped out Hakkai with a large, unseen grin on his face as he stared at the wonderful, wonderful sky. "I suppose that's that. For now at least."

"Uhg," groaned Goku in response to the overly 'happy' tone in Hakkai's voice.

"…Shit on a goddamn cracker," spat Gojyo, hurting all over.

"Everyone kicking?" half-groaned Ana, not feeling up to the idea of actually 'kicking' at the moment.

"Ow!" said Gojyo, feeling his wounds now that the adrenaline had worn off. "Now that it's over, everything hurts," he whined.

"I hear that loud and clear," Ana said from next to him. "And last I heard blood was the 'in' thing… especially when it's inside you."

"You said that before," Sanzo said blandly.

"I think you're right," Ana chirped half-heartedly, her grin pained.

"Hey, Hakkai?" asked Goku, shifting his head slightly.

"Yes," asked the demon.

"Did Sanzo really shoot you back there?"

"No," Sanzo replied for him as he ruffled the hair on his head and feeling the already-dried blood in his hair. That was going to be a bitch to wash out completely. "I aimed around him, thank you very much."

"Indeed," chuckled Hakkai. "And I hardly care about the grazing!"

Gojyo shifted his head to look at Sanzo's blonde hair. "Yo, man. I still owe you for that kiss. Pucker up to Ana-kun!"

"Eh?!" squeaked the 'kiss-ee' at the 'suggestion', her head shifting to try and look at Gojyo. "What makes you think he wants to kiss _me_?!" She really didn't think that Sanzo would be too interested in displaying his emotions for all to see… even if the viewers would just be the three others of their group. Not to mention he hadn't made any kind of motion that he was interested in her sans that one kiss they shared.

Sanzo, however, was reviewing the decision he had made about Ana in Kami-sama's castle. The decision had been a monumental one for him. As a Buddhist, he wasn't supposed to be with a woman, but there were a number of rules he had already broken many times over. He hadn't shaved his head; he really didn't keep his cool either. He had a gun and used it rather frequently… especially of late to kill people. He had already done a great deal of ignoring some of the more major/minor rules, so… why not break one more? He was still a Sanzo despite the fact he had broken all the rules. He wasn't even a proper Buddhist in the first place to begin with.

And she wasn't that young. If she had still been seventeen, he would have been against it. The gods seemed to conspire against him, however, and allowed her to turn eighteen not too long after she had arrived.

He wasn't, however, thrilled with making this decision known right there in front of the others, but he really didn't want to waste any more time trying to deny himself and hurt her at the same time.

So he did something slightly out of character according to his friends and (unbeknownst to him) every Saiyuki reader out there.

As Ana was laying right there next to him, he reached out one calloused hand and snagged her wrist once again. He pulled her wrist closer to him, bringing her arm to him followed by her shoulder and the rest of her body. "Sanzo?" she asked as he shifted slightly. The others managed to wiggle just enough to see what he was doing, which irritated the goddamn shit out of him, but he'd rather just get this little declaration over and see her melt or some such thing that girls did. He was no expert.

He rolled up and braced himself from falling over on top of her. Neither of them would enjoy that much with their current array of injuries. So now he was rolled onto his side rather than his back. Ana caught sight of his eyes and was surprised at the warmth she could see within those amethyst depths.

"I'll be taking that kiss now," he said lowly, though everyone heard him clearly and leaned in to claim his prize.

The moment their lips touched, Ana having had to push herself up slightly to get her face close to his, Gojyo let out a catcall that they, for the moment, ignored. "'Bout damn time, Sanzo!" crowed the kappa.

Hakkai's face was lit up with a very happy grin that was almost as broad as his fake smiles, observing the two as they finally did something that Hakkai had almost given in and deemed impossible. It seemed that Ana had finally worked her way under Sanzo's skin and it seemed Sanzo finally didn't mind her being there.

Goku's face was graced by his monkey grin as he whooped delightedly, too, though he had to admit he was shocked that Ana liked _Sanzo_ of all people and Sanzo was actually _kissing_ her voluntarily.

"To Sanzo from Gojyo with love!" whooped Gojyo, unable to stop laughing at the fact that Sanzo had given in to the only female Ikkou member.

At that point, celebrations were cut short as Sanzo pulled back and snarled at Gojyo. "Speak anymore and you will die right here, you piece of shit!"

Ana didn't mind. She was definitely on cloud nine with her chorus of angels belting out some love song. A silly grin spread over her face and her cheeks were definitely red from her blush. Today, despite all the shit that went down, was a good day. And she'd probably remember it for a very long time… of course, Kami-sama insured she'd remember, but at least there was some fun in the mess. And she wasn't talking about the 'Indiana Jones' room either.

After a moment's silence, Goku pushed himself up – as did the others – as he began to whine. "Man oh man…"

"I'm hungry," chorused the other four Ikkou members at once.

"I'm—" Goku blinked and turned sharply. "Hey!"

"I see," chucked Hakkai.

"At least we're in agreement, hm?" laughed Ana out loud despite her abdominal pain.

"You stole my line!" protested Goku, scrabbling to his feet as the others hefted themselves up.

"Let's get a move on," Sanzo said, impatient to get back to town and the injuries looked at. It would be a while before Hakkai could heal them with chi. He'd have to recharge first.

They started down the stairs, all laughs of relief now as they went. Goku's protests and Ana's ribbing filling the air between them with a certain amount of light-heartedness. Beside Ana on the steps they were traveling down was Sanzo and he pulled out a cigarette that hadn't been ruined in the fight. He had had to pitch the one before it because the cylinder was bent and slightly torn. Gojyo grinned and soon joined in on the jokes.

For once, Sanzo didn't mind that she was interacting with the others with the slightly sexual innuendos and bad jokes-slash-puns being thrown back and forth. He was mostly content with the fact that Ana was there and not making any motions of abandoning him at the moment.

Hakkai was grinning broadly in a very self-satisfied manner. After all the trouble that Sanzo had put Ana through… especially the whole 'no talking to each other deal' that he had suspicions about… he was quite glad that things were finally finished. Well, not 'finished'. They were just beginning between the two of them.

Sometime later, they reached the bottom of the steps and Hakuryuu swooped out and landed in a clear spot to transform. After doing so, the driver's seat was quickly occupied. However…

The four of them stared at the one that was intending to drive them back to town. "Er," mumbled Ana, not sure how to take this new turn of events.

"Get in," said the priest, his hand resting at the top of the steering wheel rather comfortably.

"What's gotten into you?" asked Gojyo in disbelief. "Why don't you get in the back and snuggle up to Ana-kun? I know you've been dying to!"

"Shut your trap," Sanzo ordered, spotting the reddening cheeks of Ana over the kappa's shoulder. "I'm not about to let half-dead assholes drive me to my grave."

"You're probably half-dead, too, Sanzo," Ana said, her head cocking to one side in bemused befuddlement. He just gave her a flat look as if to dare her to continue. "But if you want to…" she gave in.

"Thank you for the offer, Sanzo," Hakkai said as he climbed into the passenger seat and the others lifted themselves slowly into the back.

"Hurry your asses up," Sanzo said, mostly to Goku and Gojyo (of course not at Ana at that point!). "Or we won't make it back to town before dark."

"Do you need a map?" Hakkai said, effortlessly distracting him.

"No," the priest said, glancing at the man. "I'm aware of our general direction."

"Remember to ask for directions if you get lost!" chirped Ana in a laughing manner as she itched at the dried blood on her temple.

"Who's to ask other than the wildlife?" Sanzo said blandly, not appreciating her 'faith' in his directional skills.

"We're dyin' _an'_ I'm hungry," whined Goku as he settled in his seat. "This sucks!"

"I suppose we can liven up this car ride with a bet of some kind," chuckled Hakkai.

"Whoever dies before we make it to the city loses," Gojyo said as he lit up his own fag.

"We're going to need a loser penalty with that," Sanzo said, joining in.

"How about the loser is rolled out onto the main street?" asked Ana jokingly.

"Better yet," contributed Gojyo. "Rolled out onto main street… _naked_." He grinned viciously. "Except for a nipple ring."

"Pervert!" she yipped.

"Gross!" yelped Goku as he could just now see it. "I can't die! That's just nasty!"

"You're wanting to join in, you know," snorted Ana.

The two of them caught what Sanzo said. "This one's the accelerator, right?"

Indeed it was the accelerator for when pushed, the transformed dragon jumped forward, earning yells from the back seat.

"Holy shit!" yelled Ana, grasping at the side of the Jeep.

"Time out!" hollered Gojyo. "Shit!" he yipped as Sanzo wound up making it jump forward again before going forward at a steady (and fast) pace.

"D-do you even have a license, Sanzo?!" came Hakkai's voice, unusually panicked.

"Good question," admitted the priest.

"_You don't have a goddamn license?!_" shrilled Ana. "Gimmie the wheel! Now! I've _never_ been in a wreck and I'm _not_ gonna get in one now!"

"We're all gonna die!" wailed Goku.

"I've got it," the temporary driver snapped at the two protesters as the Jeep laden with wounded men and woman drove towards the town that they knew they could get medical help in.

* * *

Castle of Wizardry is book four in the series 'Belgariad' by David Eddings. The series is about young Garion and his adventure with his beautiful aunt, the legendary Sorceress Polgara, and her even more legendary father, Belgarath. The three of them along with others set out to retrieve an artifact with a lot of power within it from a thief who wishes to revive a dark god.

Enchanter's Endgame is the fifth and last book in the 'Belgariad'.

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MANGA CHAPTERS COMPLETED:

Volume 9: Chapter 53: Bet

Volume 9: Chapter 54: Nothing to Give

Volume 9: Chapter 55: Falling, Rising


	24. Epilogue: Not Just A Book Anymore

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Saiyuki. I do own Ana. And I do claim that this is the end of this story but not the end of the series (If I ever get my ass in gear).

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**Reviews:**

White Fire Alchemist, I absolutely agree on all parts. Especially the driving.

The White Raven, if I ever get into the groove again, everyone will find out how it goes, even me. And thanks for such high praise for Ana. Ana's been a slap together with a little of me thrown in for good measure. To know that she's well liked is an honor.

DustBunnyQueen, I will eventually go into Reload... if I get busy. As for Gojyo suffering from loss of life, of course not! We have to have cockroaches!

Silver-eyed, I want this stupid story out of my head, but what can I do? My muse has decided to run away now that I have to worry about when my husband will come to the U.S.

Jesslynn's Vanity, thank you.

Miorochi, here's an update. I don't know when the next will be.

Ahchan, here you go.

Nami, I hope I do go into SY Reload. I have a couple of chapters, but nothing to work with and keep regular updates.

NoWaitAuthor, Borders is all I can say. That is where I get them. Half-Price has 'em too but it's a bit chancier. And welcome to the review pool.

Kayla, it might have been a little strange for Sanzo to do that, but at the same time fairly in character. Sanzo gets what Sanzo wants after all.

Goku's elegy, you have almost as much energy as Goku himself!

Naked-Lady Orchid, never saw that movie. And please tell me you aren't some crazy ass dude with a weird penname (thinking of Barenaked Ladies).

SakuraEmma29, actually, you're right. Kagome is indeed mary-sue. But I think the reason that Koga keeps up his 'attentions' is because it pisses Inu-Yasha off. And Sakura from Naruto... not as much of a mary-sue. Plus, she earns her attention by being dependable. I've read a shit load of manga.

Invisible-gurl, glad you liked!

Kitty Persona, no worries on the reviews. Check the stats at the bottom of the chapter to see how many I got. I'm still in shock.

ChibiPandaChan, I had to choose my area rather than anywhere else because I've only ever lived in and around Houston. And on the license, Ana really shouldn't talk. Remember when she drove to the store without her own license because her mom told her to go get it if it was so important?

Beatit, as I said above, it isn't totally weird because he gets what he wants.

Twilight-to-Nightfall, here's a bit more fluff for you.

FcS, of course! My pleasure!

A Reviewer, as for 'Sanzo being an idiot', he isn't. He's scared that the same thing would happen to Ana that would happen to every other person he ever loved. They all died. Ana is his responsibility. Unfortunately, those little buggers known as hormones overruled his logic. Or is that 'fortunately'?

Patriot16, I'll have that cherry! (Eats the cherry)

Blue Stocking, nah, you didn't upset me about the Japanese thing. I've used the titles (haven't you noticed?) and other small things that I am sure of the usage. But using words that I don't know or understand is foolish in my eyes. Unless you know the language (or have someone review your work that knows the language), I feel you shouldn't use it. An image of a tattoo that is supposed to read 'Love' in Chinese/Japanese actually reads 'I like screwing dogs' keeps popping into my head. Or similar. I don't want to get in over my head and write something totally offensive. Oh, and that ATT commercial with the guy seriously insulting the Chinese dude. That keeps coming up, too. As for a floor favorite, I think the riddle one and the Indiana Jones one. I love riddles and I love the whole 'Last Crusade' movie.

A Reviewer... didn't I just reply to you? And I'm sorry for the wait. Busy life.

* * *

**Epilogue: Not Just a Book (Anymore)**

They had managed to get back to town in one piece (thankfully), without anyone dying (even more thankfully, in Goku's opinion). Once again they visited the inn where they had stayed at before and the innkeeper clucked his tongue at their disgraceful and wounded appearance.

"Don't you have anything better to do than get hurt, gentlemen?" he asked them sternly before showing them to their rooms and calling the doctor… again.

For the next couple of days, the five of them laid up in their beds dead asleep (or if not asleep, eating or being tended to by the doctor).

Finally, between Hakkai and the doctor, they were given clean bills of health and the first thing Ana did by way of celebrating was to go to Sanzo and isolate the two of them while Goku and Gojyo gorged themselves and Hakkai watched over them… mostly to keep them away from the youngest and oldest of their party for the next few minutes or so.

"So…" began Ana, fidgeting a little as Sanzo gave her a questioning look, his scripture back around his shoulders.

"What did you want?" he asked, knowing what she probably wanted. He hadn't actively pursued any alone time with her during the past few days… mostly because they needed to heal and Hakkai had given very scary smiles in his direction every time he had tried to leave the bed before he was given a go.

"The kiss… a few days ago," she continued slowly, looking down some. He didn't push her, which made it seem all the harder to ask. "Um… Did… did you mean it?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have done it," Sanzo said flatly, but was very tempted to smirk at her for she wasn't raising her head up to meet his eyes. He wasn't Gojyo by any stretch of the imagination, but he was male. And her not looking at him was providing a very nice opportunity.

"Oh," she said, sounding very ashamed to have asked and her shoulders drooped slightly. "Are you… interested in me?"

"Perhaps," he said, having edged closer while she was looking down. The nearness of his voice and sudden presence of his feet in her line of vision startled her into looking up at him. "If I wasn't," he continued. "I wouldn't have done this." With that, he met her lips once again in a simple chaste kiss and was privately amused by the fact she melted into him immediately, her knees buckling under her own weight and forcing him to wrap his arms around her to support her.

"Oh… that's not fair," she said when they came up for air, her eyes glassy and her breath short.

"What in life is?" he asked rhetorically, deciding to lower his shields for once. He knew that they were totally alone so it wouldn't bring the repercussions that it normally might, though any hurtful words she aimed at him would cut through him like broken glass on tender flesh.

"Mmh… You're right…" she agreed slowly, making him raise an eyebrow in questioning. "So… you like me? At least a little?" He smirked at her.

"Just a little," he 'admitted ruefully', his smirk present.

"That's nice," she sighed and buried her face into the cool plate covering his chest. She felt the hard edges against her cheek. "I suppose I should be happy that you're willing to go as far as this?" He didn't answer, not really wanting to admit that though he had feelings for her, he couldn't let himself go completely. She sensed his reluctance to admit to such a thing and smiled, though he couldn't see it. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I am."

He peered down at her and absently noted that the highlights had grown out quite a bit in her hair. A long moment passed before he gently released her. She shifted her head to blink up at him and cocked her head to one side like a spaniel as if asking what was up.

"The others are probably wondering what happened to us…"

"You worried they'd come busting in on you being nice?" she asked him, her tone incredulous.

He just shot her an un-amused look, having placed the barriers around his heart again though now they were a good bit lower than before towards her. Confessional time was over and done with and if he was to let himself go completely, he would probably murder people… namely Goku and Gojyo. "Get your ass down stairs before they come running up here."

"Whatever you say, Sanzo-_chan_," she teased him before moving out of the room.

"Call me that again, and I won't give a damn whether or not there's anything between us," he hissed lowly. "You will be _shot_. I swear it."

"Fine, fine. No need to get your knickers in a twist," she muttered in English with a faux-English accent.

"What did you say?" he demanded.

"None of your business!" she shot back in Chinese.

"Don't give me that!" he snapped, bringing the fan out of nowhere and smacking her upside the head, eliciting a yelp. "Now _move_!"

"Goddamn twisted knickers!" she bitched in English as she ran down the steps, eager to get away from the not-so-tender Sanzo and his Fan of Certain Doom. "Jeeze," she bemoaned to herself. "It's not like I think of them as comic book characters anymore! That kinda went out the window back when that Rikudo person attacked us." For sake of privacy to her bitching, she continued in English to insure that none would decipher her words.

She looked around very carefully and noted that no one was in this particular area. That meant… "Oh, yes!" she hollered, happy to have release from her excitement by way of fluent English huzzah-ing as she punched the air over her head with her fists. "He likes me, he likes me! Neener neener neener! Oh, yeah! Uh-huh! I'm the man! Or the chick! Whatever! The bastard likes me! Woot!"

"Shut up!" yelled some random patron to the inn's bar as he walked past her.

"Eh heh," laughed Ana, blushing furiously at the admonishment as she ruffled the back of her hair self-consciously. "Oops."

* * *

FIN

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((Author's Note: Here ends A Seriously Messed-Up Series by me, Khait Khepri. This story will be continued in the following story A Really Loaded Series, which also follows the Saiyuki manga series. I hope you enjoyed this story for the number of reviews I have received over the course of this story not to mention the hits have indicated as such save for a couple of flames here and there.))

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**STATS:**

Prologue: Reviews-7; Hits-3950

Chapter 1: Reviews-1; Hits-753

Chapter 2: Reviews-3; Hits-649

Chapter 3: Reviews-7; Hits-628

Chapter 4: Reviews-6; Hits-763

Chapter 5: Reviews-5; Hits-582

Chapter 6: Reviews-7; Hits-675

Chapter 7: Reviews-8; Hits-516

Chapter 8: Reviews-12; Hits-618

Chapter 9: Reviews-10; Hits-543

Chapter 10: Reviews-9; Hits-489

Chapter 11: Reviews-12; Hits-391

Chapter 12: Reviews-14; Hits-416

Chapter 13: Reviews-18; Hits-501

Chapter 14: Reviews-22; Hits-631

Chapter 15: Reviews-16; Hits-540

Chapter 16: Reviews-15; Hits-418

Chapter 17: Reviews-17; Hits-416

Note: Reviews-6; Hits-313

Chapter 18: Reviews-14;Hits-358

Chapter 19: Reviews-16; Hits-390

Chapter 20: Reviews-19; Hits-371

Chapter 21: Reviews-23; Hits-381

Epilogue: Reviews-?; Hits-?

Total: Reviews-267; Hits-15290

CS2 Communities: 3 total

1. All Stories that ROCK!

2. Calliope's Playground

3. Ugly.Beautiful's Favorite OC/Gender-Bender Stories

Favorited 51 times!

Story Alerted 52 times!

All stats as of **May 30, 2008**


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